Outer Heaven on the Narrow Sea
by Kingofthings7929
Summary: In the wake of the deaths of its various members, Diamond Dogs and their Mother Base appear in the Narrow Sea as the Seven Kingdoms begin to rip themselves apart. With power unmatched by any in the Known World and plenty of work, will the Diamond Dogs at last find their Outer Heaven? Warning: Massive spoilers for The Phantom Pain. Pairings undecided at this point.
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This Chapter and most chapters after this have huge spoilers for MGSV: The Phantom Pain. Read at your own risk.**

He'd never expected to wake up, in all honesty. Which makes sense, after all few people survived a fight with Solid Snake. Venom Snake was no exception, despite being Big Boss's Phantom. Or maybe it's because he was a phantom that he lost that fight.

At any rate, Snake never expected to wake up at all and if he had, he'd expected to see some form of hell. He'd certainly earned it. But instead what he got was the grey ceiling of his room at Mother Base. He sat up, rubbing his chin as he looked around his room. It was just as he remembered it. One door to the hall way and another to his bathroom. A closet for his various suits, sneaking and other wise. His end table with his eyepatch and box of cigars. All as it was a decade ago. _IS this some new hell?_ He wondered as he got up, pulling on his eyepatch and grabbing a cigar. He paused, one hand lightly grabbing the shrapnel coming out of his head. _I'd had that removed…_ He quickly walked into the bathroom and looked in the mirror. As always, Big Boss's face stared back at him, which was nothing new. What was new was the shrapnel in his head that Snake specifically remembered having removed before the Outer Heaven Uprising. He also remembered having a more lifelike prosthetic for his left hands yet there was his more skeletal model at his side.

He turned and left the bathroom, quickly dressing and arming himself before leaving his room. He walked down the hall out into the open air, walking onto the helipad at the top of the Command Platform and looking around. The sea air smelled as it should and around him was Mother Base, His Mother Base that he'd bleed and fought to make. Looking down he saw his men wandering the platform, all similarly looking around. _Am I not the only one who woke up here?_ He thought as he turned to walk towards the steps only to stop short when someone came up the steps, rubbing his head before looking at Snake. "Boss?"

Snake stepped forward, remembering the man's codename. "Raging Mammoth, right?"

Mammoth nodded. "Uh, yes sir. Do… do you know what happened? Last I remembered I'd been shot in Outer Heaven…"

"Me too." Snake replied. "Any idea what happened?"

Mammoth shook his head. "No, nothing." He shook himself to clear his head and saluted. "Orders, Boss?"

"Tell the men to take inventory of everything. What do we have, where are we. Gather as much information as we can and report it to me." Mammoth nodded and turned to go down the steps. Snake watched him leave then lit his cigar, puffing it and relaxing before walking towards the steps himself. _I need to see who else is here._ He kept smoking his cigar as he walked down the platform. All around him he could hear his men talking amongst themselves.

 _"Do you know what happened?"_

 _"No idea."_

 _"Is this heaven? What the fuck is this?!"_

 _"The Boss will figure this out, you'll see!"_

Snake took his time listen up until he heard a single gunshot ring out from the bottom of the platform. Picking up the pace, he ran down the steps and finally reach the main deck only to see 2 men holding back Miller, how had his gun drawn and pointed at Ocelot, who was simply watching, one hand near his revolver. "I'll kill him, that sonofabitch I'll kill him!" Miller kept struggling as much as he could with.

Snake walked between the two and raised his voice, one hand near his own sidearm. "Enough! What's going on?"

Miller kept pushing. "I'm killing that bastard, that's what's happening!" He kept trying to get free to kill Ocelot.

Ocelot sighed. "That was years ago Miller, let it go."

Miller's face grew even more contorted with rage and the men had to work harder to keep him restrained. "Years ago for you, you bastard."

Snake meanwhile had reached his limit, drawing his pistol and firing it twice into the air. Everyone stopped moving and looked at him as Snake looked at Miller and Ocelot. "We are going to take this inside and talk. Am I clear?" He waved for the men to release Miller who stepped back, still watching him. Ocelot nodded and replied with "Yes, Boss," before walking towards the central tower.

Miller holstered his pistol and looked at Snake. "Boss, he-"

Snake cut him off with a raised hand. "Inside, now." Miller sighed, grabbed his crutch and went inside, with Snake following as he holstered his own weapon.

Inside, Miller and Ocelot had sat down at opposite ends of a table. Ocelot seemed perfectly comfortable despite Miller's constant death glaring. Snake sat down between the 2. "Alright. What happened?"

Miller looked at Snake, still enraged. "Ocelot shot me."

The Russian in question just shrugged. "It's nothing personal. Just business."

"Bullshit, you wanted me out of the way so you could finish whatever scheme you were doing."

Ocelot idly looked at Miller. "My scheme was destroying the Patriots."

Miller raised an eyebrow. "What?" Snake also turned to look at Ocelot who went on.

"Strangelove's AI program eventually took over Cipher's network, made it grow bigger, bloated. Me, EVA and Naomi Hunter eventually came up with a plan to end the AI and their network."

Snake but in. "Naomi is Jaeger's sister right? The two we found in Rhodesia?"

Ocelot nodded. "Yup, she was part of the whole plan. Looks like you really made an impact on her, Boss. Anyway, we came up a plan to end the AIs once and for all."

Miller sighed. "And my death was part of that?"

Ocelot nodded and Miller sighed. "Fine, but I'm keeping an eye on you. In the meantime," he turned to look at Snake. "We need to figure out what's going on. Most of us were dead before we came here, you included if my memory serves."

Snake nodded, "Yeah, I'll tour Mother Base to try and reassure the men."

Miller nodded, "Right. Ocelot, we need to find out what's going on here and where we are. Get the intel division on that."

Ocelot nodded, "We should take inventory too, find out what we have. And who we have."

Snake stood up, "I already told the men to take inventory. Make finding out where and when we are top priority."

Ocelot raised an eyebrow, "When? You think we traveled in time?" He sounded skeptical, almost questioning Snake's judgement.

Snake crossed his arms, "We were all dead and now we're not and you think time travel is crazy?"

Ocelot sighed. "Point taken Boss. I'll see what we can do."

Miller got to his feet, grabbing his crutch from where it leaned on the table. "I'll go oversee the inventory taking." He slowly made his way out of the room. Ocelot made to leave as well but was stopped by Snake's arm being held up in front of him. "Was that the truth," he asked.

Ocelot shrugged. "Not really. It was Eli's idea though."

Snake shook his head as he lowered his arm. "Figures… he always was a twisted little bastard."

Ocelot snorted, "You have no idea, Boss." He finally walked out of the room, leaving Snake alone in the room. He sighed and rubbed his forehead, his hand again feeling his horn before he froze. If he and the rest of Mother Base had come back to life then had…

Snake sighed and left the room, deciding against getting his hopes up. Quiet had died some time before most of Mother Base. It was best if he just focused on the condition on his men. There was a time for pipe dreams and now wasn't it.

* * *

The sun was low in the west as Snake slowly walked down the walkway headed towards the medical platform. Most of the jeeps had been commandeered for use by his men so he was left to walk. He was used to that though, walking all around Afghanistan and the Angola-Zaire border region time after time. He enjoyed the time to himself. The tour had been going well so far. The men had been confused, angry, and afraid. None of which was a surprise. Yet despite the unknown, the men took solace in his presence which was something Snake was more than grateful for. The situation was bad enough as it was without the staff fighting amongst themselves, Miller and Ocelot excluded.

To be honest, Snake was surprised the men and women of Diamond Dogs were loyal at all. He'd half expected them to leave when he'd told the truth about himself, about being nothing more than a doppelganger of Big Boss. Yet, they had stayed, all of them. It seemed they didn't care if he was the real Big Boss, he was _their_ Boss. Snake smiled at this, the discussion about his decision had been one of the few times Ocelot and Miller had agreed on something, thank God.

Snake finally arrived at the medical platform to see, much to his surprise, Code Talker slowly rolling towards him in his wheel chair. He nodded before greeting the ancient Navajo. "Code Talker."

Code Talker nodded back. "Boss. You are here to inspect, yes?"

Snake nodded. "Yeah, could use anything your parasites picked up."

Code Talker nodded his head slowly. "I doubt they have seen anything you and your men do not already know. But, there is one thing that will be of interest to you." He turned and began to roll back towards the building with Snake in tow. The two entered the building with Code Talker leading snake through hallway after hallway till they at last entered a room occupied by one of the medical staff and a familiar nearly naked woman sitting on the examination bed being checked over by the staff member. Code Talker rolled into the room nonchalantly while Snake stopped short at the doorway, looking at the woman before uttering a single word. "Quiet."

She immediately turned her head and looked eyes with Snake before hopping to her feet and quickly walking up to him, staring into his eye not 6 inches from his face. The two simply stared for a few moments before Snake nodded and Quiet returned to the bed. Code Talker choose to speak up, "She was found in her cell, confused. The medical staff had her moved here to be examined."

Snake jerked to look at the Navajo, no longer watching Quiet, "And?"

Code Talker was unfazed by the harshness in Snake's tone, "The parasites remain as they were when I last examined her."

Snake looked back at Quiet, "So, no English?" Quiet sighed at Snake's comment but continued to allow the doctor to keep examining her.

Code Talker nodded. "Indeed. She can speak if she uses another language of course."

Snake looked at Code Talker, his brow furrowing and body tensing up as he drew a simple conclusion. "She knows another language?"

Quiet nodded and spoke to Snake in Navajo, who of course had no idea what was spoke. Code Talker spoke up to translate. "She says that she kept it from you to prevent interrogation by Miller and Ocelot."

Snake sighed as he relaxed, "Makes sense." He looked back at Quiet, who met his gaze before he went on, "Code Talker, can you teach me Navajo?"

Code Talker smiled, "Ah, I suppose I can. It is difficult to learn. Why do you wish to learn it?"

"Battlefield communication."

Code Talker kept smiling, as if enjoying some private joke, "Yes… Very well then. If that is what you want bidee' hòlònì. It will not be easy of course."

Snake smirked for a moment, "Nothing worth doing is."

At that moment, Snake's radio flared to life as Ocelot called him, "Boss, I have an update for you. You're not gonna like it."

Snake sighed before turning away, "What is it?"

"We've tried to make contact with various satellites to try and get a fix on our position. No response. Same with radio broadcasts. Nothing from either."

"So we're being jammed. Prep a chopper we'll do this the old fashioned way."

"Not so fast," Ocelot responded, "We ran more checks and we're not being jammed."

"Then what's going on?"

"Best as we can tell Boss, it's like there are no satellites out there or radio transmissions."

Snake stepped out in to the hallway, one hand to his ear piece. "What?"

"Hideo had a theory so he started collecting and running tests on static after our contact attempt failed. Long story short, there's less than there should be."

Snake sighed. "So?"

"So," replied an annoyed Ocelot, "Most static comes from various radio sources, TV stations, radio stations some from satellites and even some from space. But the static Hideo picked up only had level's we'd expect from natural sources."

"So, we're somewhere with no wireless communications in place?"

"More likely, somewhere with no wireless communications ever."

Snake closed his eye and sighed. "Alright, prep a chopper. We'll do this the old fashioned way."

"On it. Pick up from where?"

"Medical platform, deck 1."

The only response was a burst of static as Ocelot ended the call. Snake turned and walked back into the examination room. "Code Talker, is Quiet fit for duty?"

He nodded, "Yes, I take it you have a job?"

Snake nodded, his face blank,"Of a sort." He looked at Quiet. "Suit up and meet me at the Medical Platform." Quiet nodded and hopped of the bed as Snake left the room, eventually exiting the building as the chopper set down and Ocelot hopped out.

"I had the Support Team prep your usual gear. What's the plan?" He asked as the chopper's rotors slowed to a stop.

"Recon, find out where and when we are," Snake replied at Quiet appeared in full kit next to him, at least full kit for Quiet. Snake went on, unfazed by Quiet's appearance, "Hopefully find someone we can milk for information."

Ocelot nodded. "Prep 101 then?"

Snake nodded as he stepped onto the chopper, Quiet following and taking a seat. The chopper's rotors began to spin up as Ocelot stepped back, saluting from where he stood at the edge of the helipad. Snake took his usual seat and looked out the window at Mother Base as the chopper took off, headed for parts unknown.

 **AN: Greetings people of the internet, tis I the King of Things here with another fic. This one is a response to a challenge to crossover MGSV with Game of Thrones. That combined with binge playing said game lead to this. The description does have Big Boss but the Snake in this fic is Venom Snake, the Phantom, not the actual Big Boss. As for the GoT side of things, I'm gonna stick to the book events with the show being used for descriptions and the like. Maybe other elements from the show if I see them as interesting additions. Also, apologies if I butcher Code Talker, I do not speak Navajo and couldn't find any dictionaries on it online. If anyone out there knows Navajo, feel free to correct me as much as you can, thank you. Anyway, I plan to update this within a week, so long as MGS holds my attention, which it tends to especially with the glory of the Phantom Pain behind it. See you all soon and please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

The helicopter soared over the water, keeping low and close to the sea to avoid a nonexistent radar. Inside the cabin, Snake was pulling on his sneaking suit, his uniform thrown onto the seats at the back of the chopper. Quiet was idly watching him change as he finally got the damn thing on. He sat down at his usual seat, adjusting his prosthetic as his radio crackled to life.

"Boss, what's your plan?" Miller asked over the radio.

Snake replied, "Find something that can tell us where we are."

"Or someone."

"You think we'll need to kidnap someone for intel?"

Ocelot entered the conversation with a reply, "Desperate times Boss."

Snake sighed, "Fine, is our Fulton system functional?"

"Should be." Miller replied, "If it's not, we'll let you know."

Snake nodded as the pilot yelled back into the cabin, "Boss, we got land!"

Snake stepped up towards the cockpit, looking out the window where a sliver of land could be seen on the horizon. Quiet got up from her seat, standing next to Snake and also looking at the land on the horizon. Snake whipped out his binoculars and was scanning the slowly growing land mass in front of him. "There's a castle on an island at 11 o'clock. About… 3 klicks out."

The pilot nodded and adjusted his course. "Set you down on top of it?"

Snake shook his head. "No, set me down near the bottom of the island. I'll scale the cliff up." He kept scanning. "There's an island to the west of the castle. Set Quiet down on that." He put away his scope and put a hand on Quiet's shoulder. "Quiet, cover me while I head up the walls and mark an exfil route if I get caught. Got it?" Quiet nodded and Snake walked back to his seat and started to check his weapons. Quiet soon took a seat as the chopper got closer and closer to the castle.

"Boss, did you say 'castle'?" Miller asked over the radio.

"Yeah," Snake replied, "Make sure to record everything during the mission. We need everything we can get."

The pilot turned back into the cabin and yelled, "Bout 2 minutes out, Boss."

Snake nodded and opened the chopper door, strapping himself in as he sat on the edge of the floor. Ahead of the chopper was the castle he'd spotted through his scope. Snake had thought he'd seen gargoyles on the edges of the towers. But now he could see his eye had failed him. The whole damn castle was like a bunch of dragons sitting on a massive rock surrounded by high, thick walls. "What the hell…" Quiet walked out and hung off the side of the door next to Snake as the two looked at the strange castle before them. The chopper turned and got close to the cliff, hovering over a rocky outcropping near the bottom of the cliff. The castle, with it's strange décor, was above them. Snake leapt off the chopper onto the outcropping, landing in a crouch as the chopper began to rise, Quiet still hanging out the door watching him as the chopper flew off.

Snake sighed, looked up at the cliff before him. _May as well get started_ , he thought as he started the slow climb up the rock face. As he kept up the climb his comm sprung to life. "Boss, should we sent out a dispatch mission somewhere else?" Miller asked.

Snake paused his climb to respond, "Yeah, send the best team we have on that. We can't afford to lose anyone here."

"Got it Boss." The radio went quiet as Snake kept climbing. He was half way up the cliff when he heard the familiar crackle of his radio again. It was a brief burst of static, meaningless to anyone else but to Snake it meant that Quiet was in position and on overwatch for him. He let himself quickly sigh with relief then keep going.

By the time Snake had reached the top of the cliff, the sun had fallen and night had arrived. Luckily for the soldier, there was no moon that night. Perfect sneaking conditions. Snake got up over the edge and looked at the wall before him, stretching up into the night. Then, he saw it. Jutting out of the wall was a balcony and, lucky for him, there was a crack leading right up to it. He took a moment to smirk at his luck then began to scale the wall, digging his fingers into the crack as he pushed himself up the wall. He grabbed the side of the balcony and went to pull himself up only to hear the door open and footsteps out onto the balcony. Snake immediately hung himself down from the edge of the bannister, hoping to whatever god there is that he wouldn't be noticed. Luckily, the two men were in their own discussion.

"Hey, did you see that woman that arrived a few days ago?" Came one of the voices, speaking a what Snake thought might be some kind of British accent, something he'd hear in some fantasy film.

"Aye, she's from some Essos city I heard. Don't really care, she's something to look at."

"Do you always think with yer damned cock? She's apparently got some kinda power."

"Bah, all she does is stare at fire all day. The 'ell could she do with that?"

"Yeah, yeah…" The footsteps faded and the door closed. Snake immediately pulled himself back onto the balcony and shook his hands, trying to get feeling back into them. He looked at the door then pulled out his tranq pistol, slowly opening the door with his gun at the ready. He crept into the hallway, looking left and right as he sank into a crouch. He listened and, hearing the footsteps to his left, went right, gun at the ready.

The castle was dark, deary, and tight. The murk was only broken up by a torch on the walls. Snake of course had no complaints about this, a lack of light was where he did his best work. He kept his gun up as he kept walking through the passageways when his radio flared to life with Miller's voice. "Boss, got some bad news, apparently the castle doesn't have a safe LZ on it."

Snake slipped into a small alcove before responding in a whisper. "So, my only way out if how I got in?"

"That or a fulton. Good luck, Boss."

Snake nodded, "Keep me informed." The radio shut off as he got back out into the hallway. As he kept walking, he felt the air grow hotter and hotter. Most of the castle had been wet and cold but the air was slowly growing drier and hotter as he walked. He finally reached a wooden door at the side of the hallway. He could see flickering light coming from below the door and could feel the heat without even touching the door. His best guess was someone had a bonfire in the room. He reached out to open the door when he heard the hinges squeak. He immediately ducked into an alcove and kept his gun at the ready, aimed at the door. Said door swung open and out stepped a gorgeous woman dressed in a red dress. The dress clung to her curves, leaving her shoulders and the tops of her breasts exposed before flowing down into a skirt that lightly brushed the floor as she moved. The fire within the room made her hair shimmer. Yet, despite her beauty, Snake felt unsettled. It felt like he was looking at the boy with the gas mask, that psychic that worked with Eli. The woman closed the door and turned to leave before stopping and looking around. Then, she looked right into Snake's eyes. He knew that chances are she couldn't see him through the dark but he felt she knew he was there. Her eyes, almost a brownish yellow color met his single blue one for a moment before she smiled like she knew some big secret no one else did then turned to leave. She walked down the hall a short distance to the door at the end then went through the door, but left it open.

Snake walked down to the door and peered through it. Before him was a huge dining hall with tables stretching the length of the room. At one end of the room sat another table with chairs all facing the rest of the hall. The room was filled with men and women, drinking and carrying on like his men did during their parties. At the head table, Snake saw the red haired woman sit down at the left, or right from her perspective, of a severe man dressed in full plate armor sitting on an ornate wooden chair, a crown adorning his balding head. He pulled out his binoculars and looked at the head table through them, using the directional microphone to attempt to hear their conversation. Sadly for him, the noise of the feast blocks all attempts to use the microphone so he put away his scope and slipped into the room, staying crouched as he slowly walked into the room. He stopped when he got a clear view of the head table, slipping into the shadows and watching.

An old man dressed in a simple robe with a chain around his neck came up to the table and began to speak with the man in plate armor. The robed man spoke with the knight, Snake assumed, before eventually sitting at an empty chair next to the man sitting to the right, Snake's right, of the knight. The feast went on and Snake swore that once or twice the red woman met his gaze again, making him tense up each time. Things began to pick up when Snake saw the robed man who'd arrived earlier slip some form of crystal into someone's drink. Snake watched, knowing that the red woman had to know the drink had been poisoned, she'd noticed him after all and that was much tougher. He watched as the red woman and robed man talked about something, he still couldn't hear them then the woman in red downed most of the glass, leaving only one sip left before handing it to the robed man. Said man sighed, apparently steeling himself before taking the drink. The ruby necklace around the woman in red's neck began to glow as the robed man clutched at his throat, choking before keeling over.

Having seen enough, Snake withdrew from the feast, slowly creeping back into the hallway before beginning the journey back to the balcony for extraction. As he passed the flame room, the door behind him opened and Snake dove back into the alcove he'd hidden in earlier, keeping his gun handy as people filed out of the hall. Most were too drunk to walk straight, much less notice him lurking in his corner. Finally the knight in plate armor passed by with an unattractive woman at his side and the flow stopped. Snake stepped out of his alcove when the door to the flame room opened in front of him, blocking his path. He looked into said room to see the woman in Red standing before a large bonfire. She turned and looked at Snake before intoning, "Come."

Snake looked around the hallway then slowly stepped inside, both hands still on his tranq gun as the door closed behind him. Over the radio he heard Ocelot call, saying, "Boss, what are you doing?" Snake ignored him, watching the woman who began to walk towards him, swaying her hips as she came to a stop right in front of him, lightly laying a hand on his chest. Her hand burned even through his sneaking suit as she looked at him. "I have seen you in the fire, an army lost with no home." She began to circle him, running a hand across his back. "I am Melisandre, priestess of R'hllor the Lord of Light." Her hand left his back as she took a step away from him, bowing low and putting a hand to her chest. "Welcome."

Snake was unfazed by her movements, all that time with Quiet in the chopper helped deal with such issues, and responded. "You saw me earlier."

She nodded, smiling another secretive smile. "Both in the flesh and in the flames. A horned man with an arm of metal ruling a metal island." She turned and walked to her fire. "R'hllor has use of you, horned man."

Snake stepped forward holstering his gun. "Who's R'hllor? Is he that man in the armor?"

She looked at him, smiling as an adult does to a child before answering. "R'hllor is the one true God, the Lord of Light, the source of all that is good in this world."

Over the radio, Snake heard Ocelot snort. "Great, a religious radical. Be careful Boss."

Melisandre went on. "I have come to ensure the rise of Azor Ahai, who must destroy the Great Other." She turned to the fire and clasped her hands as in prayer before continuing. "For the night is dark and full of terrors."

Snake was unimpressed with her theatrics. "Why tell me all of this? I don't believe in your god."

She turned and looked at him, lowering her hands. "You will serve him regardless." She began to walk sensuously towards Snake. "There are many threats to Azor Ahai, threats you will end for me." She went to cup the side of his face only for Snake to grab her arm with his prosthetic left hand. She smiled again, amused by Snake. "You shall kill Joffery Lannister for me."

Snake scowled. "Why?"

She kept smiling. "Because you must."

Snake forced her hand down and took a step back, "I'm not interested in following your god's orders."

Melisandre let her hand drop. "And if I promise information and wealth? Azor Ahai will reward his followers as will R'hllor."

Snake paused, "What kind of reward."

She smiled like a cat with a rat in its grip and walked over to a table, picking up a hefty tome and handing it to Snake, who took it and looked it over. "This is a basic guide to Westeros. Use what it contains to end Joffery Lannister and you will have my Lord's gratitude."

Snake's radio activated as Miller gave his thoughts. "Boss, take the book and come back to Mother Base. We should talk this out first."

Snake nodded and put held the book in his left hand. Melisandre took his nod to be agreement and nodded. "Good, return to me when this task is done and you shall be rewarded." She turned back to her fire and the door opened. Snake took the chance and left the room as fast as he could, breathing a sigh of relief when he entered the hallway. His radio crackled as Ocelot spoke. "Boss, looks like you got what you came for."

Snake nodded. "Yeah, tell the chopper to prep for a fulton extraction." He changed frequencies, contacting Quiet. "Quiet, we're pulling out. Trigger your fulton." The radio hissed once as Quiet acknowledged and Snake drew his tranq pistol, his other hand carrying the book as he slowly began to head down the hall. He eventually reached the door back onto the balcony. He went to open it only for it to open as two men with swords went to walk into the hallway only to see Snake. "The hell?!" One of them cried as they drew their swords. Snake however, was faster, raising his pistol and firing a tranquilizer dart into the head of one of the guards before dropping the pistol, ducking under the other guard's frantic swing, grabbing the guard's tunic and throwing him into the wall behind him. The guard slumped against the wall, the wind knocked out of him as Snake picked up his pistol and bashed him in the head with the grip, knocking the guard unconscious. Down the hall cries of "Hey, what was that?" could be heard and Snake pulled the tranqed guard into the hall before stepping out onto the balcony and closing the door.

Now out on the balcony, Snake pulled out a fulton system and strapped down the book before pulling the activation cord, watching the book float into the air before it shot off into the night sky. Behind him, the door was flung open to see three guards with swords drawn. Snake pulled a stun grenade off his belt, yanked out the pin and dropped it at his feet before throwing himself off the edge of the balcony towards the waters below. As he fell, he heard the stun grenade go off and cries of disorientation above him as he pulled his fulton activation cord. The balloon wasn't enough to stop his descent but did slow it down enough to give him time to think. After chambering the next round of his pistol, he turned and began to swing back and forth, his left hand extending towards the rock face as his right hand still held the pistol. As his drop kept slowing he heard the strain of the tethers holding the balloon strain. As he stopped, and just before said tethers failed, Snake grabbed the cliff with his left hand, raised his right hand and shot the balloon. It of course popped the moment the dart hit it and Snake dropped, his left hand only barely holding on as he dug his feet into the rock, finding purchase and stopping as the tethers fell slack on him.

Snake sighed with relief and holstered his pistol before slowly climbing back down to where he'd been dropped off. Upon finally landing, and taking a few deep breaths to calm down, he put a hand to his ear piece and called the chopper.

"Pequod, Pequod this is the Boss, requesting pick up over."

The radio crackled as a response was heard. "This is Pequod, specify pick up point, over."

"Roger, pick up point is where I was dropped, over."

"Copy that, Boss. En route to LZ. Over."

The radio went dead as Snake visibly relaxed. Infiltrations were always stressful, especially with unfamiliar territory such as this. He looked up as the sounds of the helicopter could be heard over the sea. And soon enough, the comforting sight of the chopper appeared through the night sky, hovering over the outcropping as Snake's radio blasted the message. "This is Pequod, on station at LZ."

Snake hopped up and climbed into the chopper, strapping himself in as he sat on the edge of the floor. Inside, Quiet was in her usual seat and smiled at him as the chopper took off. Snake watched as the strange keep faded into the night from his spot before getting up, closing the door and sitting at his usual seat. After a quick smile towards Quiet he got comfortable in his seat for the ride home.

* * *

A couple hours later, the helicopter sat down on the command platform's lower helipad. Snake opened the door to see Ocelot and Miller standing at the pad's edge along with the usual 4 or 5 soldiers also there to greet him. The troops saluted as Snake walked up to his two lieutenants. Ocelot had the book he'd fultoned under his arm as Miller nodded in greeting, "Welcome back, Boss."

Ocelot turned. "We have a lot to talk about, come on." He started walking towards the main building with Miller following along. Snake took one look back at the chopper, or rather at its other passenger, before following Miller and Ocelot into the building.

Up near the top of the main building, under the floor where Snake, Ocelot and Miller slept was the War Room, where operations where planned and oversaw. Usually the room was filled with men and maps but tonight the men were asleep and the maps were useless. Ocelot walked into the room and took a seat at the main table with Miller and Snake doing the same. Once all were seated, Ocelot opened the book and spoke, "Alright that book that… Melisandre right?" Snake nodded and Ocelot went on. "Right, her. That book she gave you has been a gold mine so far."

Miller nodded his agreement, "We've had copies made of it and had the Intel team studying it until about an hour ago."

Snake raised an eyebrow, "Why'd they stop?"

Ocelot cleared his throat, "We thought it best that the men get plenty of rest, what with whats happened. Some still don't believe they're alive."

Miller put his one elbow on the table. "The Medical team recommended they be allowed to rest and not be put under any stress just yet. Said you should do the same."

Ocelot but in. "It's also why we didn't send people out on recon other than you."

Snake nodded, "We don't have the luxury of not being able to send anyone out. I'll respect the Medical Team's judgement but I'm going to keep operating."

Miller nodded. "Your call, Boss. Now, about this job offer…"

"We think it's best to see what kind of leader this Joffery guy is before moving in on him." Ocelot said, "We don't need to get dragged into a fight without knowing the situation."

Miller shook his head. "I say we ignore the fire lady and use that book to decide our next move."

Ocelot sighed. "We do need supplies you know. Food, fuel, that sort of thing."

Snake leaned forward. "That's a good point, what about resources. How do we look?"

Miller answered. "Our policy of stockpiling supplies has left us with enough to last a while but we will need fuel and food eventually. We relied on contacts in the Seychelles to give us those but now we're on our own. Our solar panels will handle energy needs but otherwise, we'll run out eventually."

"How long?" Snake asked."

"Few weeks, longer if we ration it."

Snake nodded. "Alright, ration our non-renewable supplies for now. Any ideas how to solve this?"

Ocelot opened up the book. "This world is similar to medieval Europe. Constant warfare in one form or another." He flipped through the book until he reached a map. He pointed at a spot marked on the map. "There, King's Landing they call it. Apparently it's the current capital of Westeros."

"Westeros?"

Ocelot nodded. "That's what they call this continent. Made up of seven territories called kingdoms with each ruled by a family. Each family pays homage to the King of the Seven Kingdoms in King's Landing."

Miller added, "Regular feudal system. Nothing special really."

"We're lucky we speaking the language," Ocelot said. "Regardless, we'll need work and the king is the best place to get it. Just ask him what he needs killed or attacked and do it."

"Or her." Snake amended.

Miller smirked, "Not in a medieval world, Boss. It'll be a man. Count on it."

Snake nodded, "So, tomorrow we make for King's Landing for work? Overt entry then?"

Ocelot nodded. "Yup. Walk in, say hi and ask for work to do. If the King won't help, look for the Hand of the King. Apparently he's the king's XO according to this." He held up the book.

"Does it say who's king?" Snake asked.

"Says a guy named Robert Baratheon is king. Might've changed though. Information moves slow here."

Miller scoffed. "Good, gives us an edge. The best they have is a bow, we have a sniper rifle."

Ocelot sighed. "Regardless, set down outside the city and get to the King. Shouldn't be too hard, Boss. Oh, and another thing. We found something you may like." He got up and walked to the door.

Snake turned to watch Ocelot. "What is i-" He was cut off when Ocelot opened the door and a large wolf dog bounded in, barking and running up to Snake. He smiled and got out of the chair kneeling in front of the dog who started licking Snake's face. Miller watched, surprised. "Is that D-Dog?"

Ocelot smirked. "Yup, found him in Snake's room after he left. Looks like he came back too."

Snake stood up after petting D-Dog, wiping the saliva off his face. "Guess it's just like old times then."

Miller stood up, grabbing his crutch and walking to the door as he spoke in a tone dripping with sarcasm. "Only we're in some other world with Knights and Lords everywhere."

Ocelot shrugged. "At least we have work." He looked at Snake. "I figure we'll start the new trip tomorrow. Night, Boss." Miller nodded before quietly leaving the room. Snake soon followed with D-Dog at his heels, heading for his own room. It had been a long, strange day for Mother Base. But they were in a violent world. To some, it would be a nightmare but to the Diamond Dogs, it was business as usual.

 **AN: Hello ladies and gentlemen! Yes, I've already updated this fic. No, this will not be normal. I, sadly, have college to deal with. But hopefully, this will tide you guys over. First off, I decided to start the fic at the beginning of A Clash of Kings. Diamond Dogs is a merc group and war gives them plenty to do. Plus, I'm just more familiar with this time period in GoT. Now, on to the review responses (Which I'll try to do after each chapter.)**

 **TheGOTAddict: As I said above, I decided to start the fic in A Clash of Kings. While the challenge did say to have them arrive in robert's Rebellion, I find this time period more... grey morally. Sure, Robert wasn't a shining hero but Aerys II was fucking nuts. A Clash of Kings has more iffy morality and that fits Diamond Dogs more, I think. As for romance, not gonna do a harem. Those are RARELY pulled off well and not only do I not feel confident enough to do that but both sides are monogamous (mostly). So yeah, thanks for the review though! Any feedback is much appreciated!**

 **U.N.S. : To start, thank you for the review. Now then, as to romance as I said above, I plan to keep monogamous because harems are hard to do. I do like your point on Venom Snake and the women of GoT. Chances are I will be using Quiet, been trying to lay the groundwork for that so far. But, I may have to use your idea with GoT women falling for Big Boss's (his phantom's at least) charisma. It'd make things interesting. Not gonna say who (haven't decided yet) but we'll see. Thanks for the thoughts, gave me some good ideas!**


	3. Chapter 3

The sun was rising over Westeros as Pequod's helicopter flew over the waters of Blackwater Bay. Inside, Snake sat smoking a cigar as D.D. slept on the floor, one of his hands at his ear. "Alright Snake, let's go over this again," Ocelot said over the radio. "The plan is to get into the city, find the king and ask for work."

Snake sighed, "Ocelot, the plan is a simple one."

"But how you act is not," Miller chimed in. "You're entering a culture you've never seen before with different rules and norms. You need to be ready for that."

"Fine, what do I need to know?"

The sound of rustling papers was heard over the radio. "Alright, we should start with methods of address. The king is referred to as 'Your Grace' according to the book you found. Otherwise, you'll be considered a commoner to these people so go with My Lord or My Lady depending on gender."

"You seem to know a lot about this, Kaz."

"I was interested in this stuff as a teenager. Just trying to dredge it all up."

"Right…" Snake replied, concerned about the information. "What else?"

"Ok, your best bet to meet the king is to see if he holds an open court. Otherwise, sneak in and find someone you can speak with. You know what to do there, its recon 101. You've done it a million times."

"Should I worry about D.D.?" Said wolf dog perked his head up, looking at Snake.

"Doubt it, one of the families that helped with putting the king in power has a 'direwolf', whatever that is, as their sigil."

"Like a mascot?"

"It has more to do with heraldry. Though this place's heraldry is a bit simpler than back home I think."

Snake nodded. "That all?"

"Pretty much," Kaz replied. "Just be deferential at all times and you'll be fine. You've seen clichéd peasants in movies right? Just do that."

Snake sighed. "Kaz, I can't pull off a cockney accent."

Grumbling came over the radio before Kaz replied. "Just call everyone my Lord or My Lady and bow to anyone in plate armor or nice clothes alright?"

"Fine. Seems simple enough."

Below the helicopter, the sea gave way to land as the chopper continued its journey. Out the window to Snake's right, a distant castle could be seen. Pequod turned and yelled back into the cabin. "We'll be landing soon Boss, should I turn on the speakers?"

Snake got to his feet and opened a door, strapping himself in before sitting on the edge of the floor, "No, let's keep it quiet for now." Pequod nodded as D.D. came over and sat next to Snake, waiting patiently. The helicopter finally began to slow and came to a stop, hovering over a clearing. Snake unstrapped himself before leaping off the chopper, landing in a crouch as D.D. followed, landing next to Snake. The choppers rotors spun up as Pequod gave his traditional "Be careful down there, Boss," before flying off, leaving man and dog alone in the grasslands north of Kings Landing. After a quick look around, Snake and D.D began the walk to the city.

The sun had just come up over the horizon, bathing the area in a warm orange light. The grass shimmered as a light breeze blew over the hills. Snake wasn't one to stop and admire natural beauty, more preferring things to be dark and unclear as to better shelter him. But even he had to admire the scenery, feeling reminiscent of the plains of Sub-Saharan Africa. He smiled at the memories as he walked, sneaking into camp after camp. The confusion on someone's face after seeing a buddy get pulled into the sky by a balloon before being tranquilized and joining said comrade. His expression grew dark as another, more disturbing though occurred to him. If he had come back, what if his enemies returned. Skull Face would be bad. Volgin even worse, unless of course he still only hated Big Boss in which case he'd just keel over again. Then there was the worst case scenario: Eli, or Liquid as he went by as an adult. Snake had seen what Liquid was capable of as an untrained boy. As a fully trained adult with experience he'd be even worse. And God help them all if the Third Boy showed up. If Ocelot was right, he only got more dangerous with age. And considering he worked with Mantis, as he was called when he got older, Mother Base's local gunslinger would know better than most.

Snake sighed and shook his head. It wasn't worth worrying about unless any of them showed up showed up. Otherwise, just focus on getting Mother Base what it needs. In front of the two, the walls and keep of King's Landing could be seen. Even from there, the stench was maddening. If not his iron will, Snake would've pinched his nose shut or, more likely, called for a goddamn gas mask. Snake grimaced but kept going. In front of the city gate there was a long line of shabbily dressed men women and children. Many of them had carts attached to animals while others simply wore packs. But, what they all had in common was the look of desperation, both on their faces and in their postures. Snake knew these people were refugees, he'd seen it countless times before in battlefields all over the world. Despite his pity for the poor souls, it was a good sign. Refugees meant war and war meant work the Diamond Dogs. He smiled as he walked into the crowds, sticking out like a sore thumb in his sneaking suit. There was chatter everywhere and Snake could hear whispers of a King Joffrey and war parties in something called the Riverlands burning and raiding villages, not that Snake knew what the Riverlands were of course.

Snake and D.D. slowly pushed their way to the front of the crowd, looking up at the massive gates before them. As Snake arrived, a horn could be heard and slowly, inexorably, the gates swung open and the refugees surged forth into the city. Snake followed the crowd for a bit before splitting off into an alleyway, D.D. at his heels.

The city smelled even worse inside than it did outside. It looked like an urban planner's worst nightmare, all narrow streets with all manners of refuse flowing freely in the streets. Snake could see people tossing chamber pots out the window at regular intervals. He sighed and made back into the main street he'd just left, looking at the large red castle, called the Red Keep if Ocelot's book was to be believed, looming over the city. If he was a king, chances are that's where he'd live. Snake turned and began the long walk towards the castle. As he got closer to the keep, he was joined by a few other people also walking towards the keep. All of them were talking about it apparently being the King's name day, whatever that was. Snake walked up to a group and tried to listen in. Tried being the keyword as the group stopped talking and stared at Snake's strange outfit and weapons silently before shifting away from him, grumbling about weird foreigners.

Snake ignored the peasants as they entered the Red Keep. Said peasants began to walk towards an arena like structure to one side of the yard, where various banners were hung and knights in armor stood. His radio came to life as Kaz called him. "Snake, I think there's a tournament today."

"Might want to consider entering it. Winning would help," Ocelot said in response.

"We need to keep a low profile," Snake whispered, ending the discussion as he walked towards the tournament grounds, his single eye scanning the area as he considered his options. From what he saw, the commoners were sitting on the other side of the jousting ground from the nobility. So, he could either A: Sit with the commoners and use his scope to eavesdrop on the nobles, allowing him to see them but risk not hearing everything or B: Slip under the nobility seating and listen in from there but give up a visual on them. _Sight versus Sound then…_ he thought, pondering his options. Eventually deciding that sound gives more intel than sight, he went to crawl under the seating when he noticed an empty wooden crate with the top off. He walked over to it and looked it over for a moment before smiled and pulling it over himself like his cardboard box, creeping under the seating and sitting under his new box. D.D. laid down next to him, knowing that Snake was trying to hide from countless other sneaking missions with his master.

As if by magic, Kaz called him at that very moment, sighing. "Snake, did you find a box to hide under…"

Ocelot chimed in. "Are you that surprised, Miller?"

"Enough," Snake growled as above him he heard movement and a loud voice yell out. "Welcome one and all to today's tourney, held in honor of our great King Joffrey Baratheon, The First of His Name. Long may he reign!" Applause rang out across the tourney yard, muffled by Snake's box as two horses took up positions on the far ends. Snake raised his prosthetic hand and started punching a small slot in the box, finishing his work only to see the riders pass each other with no contact before swinging about, charging at each other again. This time though, contact was made and one of the knights as thrown from his horse with a mighty crash as the winner broke off his charge, hoisting his broken lance up in victory with his white cape flapping in the wind. Snake heard someone scoff above him as 2 other riders came out. One of the new jousters seemed comfortable with himself while the other, just a boy really, was struggling with his lance, barely keeping hold of it.

Snake watched as the inevitable came to pass with the boy getting thrown from his horse. Above him a condescending yell was heard. "We choose the wrong foe for you brother, he jousts worse than a quintain!" The boy laughed at his own joke, as yet two more knights rode out. Both of this pair seemed to know what they were doing but yet again Snake noticed an age gap between them, this time with one of the riders being considerably older than the other. He put a hand to his earpiece. "Kaz, weren't tournaments big events back in the day?"

Kaz responded. "Typically, yeah. Depended on who ran it if I had to guess. Why?"

"This one doesn't look like much and its being run by a king."

"He could be unpopular, who knows."

"He does sound bratty," Ocelot added.

Snake turned off his radio only to hear the brat above him scoff, "What a feeble show…" Snake looked out the slot in his box onto the tourney grounds to see another rider take his position but no one else. After a moment, Snake heard shuffling and turned his box, peering through the slot to see a half-naked knight trying and failing to pull himself onto his horse. He could tell just by how he moved the knight was very, very drunk. Eventually said drunk knight sat down on the ground, threw up his hands and cried out in a jovial voice, "I lose! Fetch me some wine!"

Above Snake, someone stood up and the bratty voice form earlier yelled out, "A cask from the cellars! I'll see him drowned in it!"

"Wait!" A new voice cried out, a young girl by the sound of it.

"What?!" The brat king responded, affronted at the girls forwardness apparently.

The girl went on, her voice much more timid now, "It's bad luck to kill a man on your name day, Your Grace."

The boy king scoffed before yet another voice, much deeper and raspier spoke up, "She's right. What a man sows on his name day, he reaps throughout the year."

The brat sat down and sighed. "Very well, I'll have him killed tomorrow then."

The girl spoke up again, her voice obviously trying to manipulate the boy, saying that "You should dress him in motley and make him your fool, Your Grace. He doesn't deserve a quick death." Snake knew she didn't believe what she said to the boy, but considering her, assumed, young age he was impressed at how steady her voice was.

The brat king fell for the girl's ploy hook line and sinker, saying, "Yes… What a prefect idea Lady Sansa. Very well, Ser Dollas Hollard, you are now my fool!"

The knight walked up to the royal platform and bowed low to the royals. "Thank you, your Grace. Thank you, my lady." He seemed to have sobered up at the threat of impending death before walking away, still stumbling slightly.

After a moment, yet another new voice could be heard, asking. "Your Grace, shall I call for a new opponent or move on to the next tilt."

"No, this tourney is over." The boy replied, voice dripping with disgust, "I'd have everyone killed if it wasn't my name day…"

A feminine sigh of relief could just barely be heard, most likely from this Sansa who'd intervened earlier. Another, younger voice spoke up, "But I was supposed to ride today!"

The boy king moved, most likely turning towards the younger voice, before replying. "I don't care, the tourney is over!"

"But Joffrey!" The younger voice replied, unintentionally giving Snake a name to put to the bratty voice of the king.

Another young feminine voice spoke up not Sansa but someone else, "Mother did say he could joust."

Joffrey mocked her, replying "Mother did say he could joust!" He continued, dropping the singsong tone. "What are you, a child?"

"Yes," The girl responded, matter of factly.

The raspier voice guffawed before saying, "She has a point, Your Grace."

"Fine," Joffrey said in a surly voice as he sat back down. Quick footsteps could be heard as Snake assumed that the boy had ran off. Sure enough, some minutes later a very young child with bright blond hair could be seen riding out onto the grounds, a lance under his arm as on the other side of the grounds a strange object was set up. It was a cross with one arm holding a flat piece of wood and the other holding a weighted bag, most likely filled with sand. The boy hoisted his lance and charged, striking the wooded piece only for the weight to swing around and hit his back, throwing the child from his horse.

Above him, Snake heard Joffrey started laughing loudly along with most of the crowd. Above him, he heard more footsteps as a young blond girl ran out to assist him, her sister perhaps? As the girl helped her brother up, above him he heard more conversation between Sansa and Joffrey with Sansa starting with. "Perhaps you should go out and tell Tommen he rode well, Your Grace."

Joffrey scoffed. "Being unseated is not riding well."

Above him fell silent as the laughter faded away. On the tourney grounds Snake saw Tommen, he assumed, trying to get back up onto his horse. But, the boy's attempt to go another round with the equipment was interrupted by the sound of the keep's gates opening yet again. The two children on the field turned and looked at the opening gates before yelling out, "Uncle!" and running off towards them.

Snake lifted his box slightly and turned it, just in time to see a strange band of men ride through the gates, some looking like the medieval peasants Snake had seen in various fantasy films while others looked more like Conan the Barbarian's less toned brothers. At the head of the group, rode a strange looking dwarf with black and blond hair. His forehead jutted out and a quick peek through his binoculars showed the dwarf had mismatched eyes, one green, one black. He dismounted to greet Tommen and his sister, sadly too far away for Snake to hear.

Snake stopped looking through the slot and picked up his box, moving down with D.D quietly walking next to him as they arrived at the edge of the seating, setting the box down as the dwarf waddled towards the seating. Then, another pair of children appeared, a blond kid dressed in red finery and an auburn haired girl in a dress. _That must be Joffrey and Sansa_ , Snake guessed. Following them was a large man dressed in armor. The three's backs were to him so Snake couldn't see their faces but even from behind Joffrey reminded him a bit of Eli. But, where Eli felt dangerous, like he could and would kill you with his bare hands, Joffrey only felt unstable. Dangerous, but not like Eli had been.

From where Snake sat, he was still too far to listen in without the use of his binoculars. Luckily, the area was clear between him and the royals so he pulled out his scope and peered through his slot as he watched. Snake was lucky, as he'd gotten set up just in time to hear the dwarf greet Joffrey.

"Hello, Your Grace."

Joffrey crossed his arms. "I'm surprised to see you here, Uncle."

The large man behind the two kids, a bodyguard perhaps, scoffed. "We'd though you dead, Imp."

The dwarf smirked and went to respond before Tommen's sister, and most likely Joffrey's judging by hair color, smiled and said, "Thank the Seven he's alive!"

The dwarf's smirk turned into a more genuine smile as he nodded at the girl, "Thank you, Myrcella." He turned and looked at Joffrey and Sansa, bowing slightly. "My condolences for the death of your fathers."

Sansa didn't react to this, standing stock still. Joffrey, however, did react as he asked, "What are you talking about Uncle?"

The dwarf looked directly at Joffrey, "Your father died recently, King Robert. Remember?" His face was impassive but Snake's gut told him the dwarf was…disappointed? No, disgusted would be better.

The boy king responded. "Oh, him. Yes, it was very sad. A Boar killed him." His tone made it clear that he was anything but sad about it. Snake's eye narrowed. There was being a spoiled brat then there was being a psychopath.

"Is that what 'they' say?" The dwarf replied, crossing his arms.

At this point, Sansa spoke up, clasping her hands in front of her before saying. "I apologize for my mother's abduction of you, My Lord."

The dwarf's shrugged, "Many people are sorry for that. Some will be even sorrier. But I do thank you for that, My Lady."

He looked over at Joffrey. "So, where is my sweet sister?"

Joffrey shrugged. "With the Small Council, my brother has been captured, Riverrun is lost and Robb Stark has named himself a king."

The dwarf shrugged, "Many people are calling themselves kings these days."

Joffrey stiffened at this and replied, "I'm glad to see you alive Uncle. Do you have anything for my name day?"

"My wits."

"I'd prefer Robb Stark's head." Joffrey then turned and walked off with his siblings in tow. The king's bodyguard stopped and looked at the dwarf, saying "I'd watch your tongue if I were you." Despite the words, his tone made it clear he was warning the dwarf. Said dwarf nodded as the large man walked off, allowing Snake to get a view of his face at last, noticing the large burn scar across the side of his face.

As the brat king and his entourage walked off, Snake was left watching Sansa and the dwarf, both of whom seemed uncomfortable. Finally, Sansa broke the silence, "How did your arm get injured?"

The dwarf said, "A Northman hit me with a Morningstar."

"How did you escape?"

He smirked, "Fell of my horse." Sansa nodded at this then bowed her head, seemingly lost in thought.

The dwarf looked up at her. "Are you mourning for your father?"

Sansa jumped and quickly replied. "My father was a traitor and so is my mother and brother. My loyalty is to my love Joffrey."

The dwarf considered her for a moment then shook his head, smiling sadly. "My lady, you are like a deer surrounded by wolves."

Snake could barely hear Sansa's response but it sounded something like "Lions." The dwarf apparently heard it too as he took the girls hand and said. "Don't worry about me, My Lady. I'm only a little lion after all." With that, the dwarf released her hand and started walking towards the keep, his strange group following.

Over Snake's radio, Ocelot said, "She's under duress."

"Might be a hostage situation. Remember, she said her family are traitors." Kaz replied.

Ocelot nodded. "We could pull her out. It'd win the trust of the rebels."

"And if the royals turns on us?" Snake asked.

"Boss, this is a medieval culture. We're a state of the art 20th century force." Ocelot replied

"I hate to admit it, but he's right," Kaz said, "They have trebuchets, we have tanks and artillery."

"Boss, I say we extract the girl. She knows a lot about the current situation and we could use that." Said Ocelot.

Kaz ended the talk with, "Just treat her gently, ok?" And with that, the radio went dead. Under the now empty seating Snake lifted the box and began to examine the keep that the girl had walked into while he used the radio. From what he saw, the keep was surrounded by a moat filled with spikes with the only way in being through the drawbridge. Luckily for Snake, not only was the draw bridge down but only one person was guarding it. Whoever it was, was dressed in full plate armor with a white cloak. Except for his head, not an issue in the medieval world but Snake was an excellent shot. He smirked and pointed at the guard, looked at D.D. and said, "Bark", before slipping back under his box.

D.D. ran towards the guard and started barking at him. Said guard waved at the dog yelling for it to shoo. But, while he was distracted, Snake lifted his box and ran into his pistol range. Yet, D.D. kept barking after Snake was in place. He choose to use this, carefully pushing off the top of his box, sliding it back before creeping up and readying his pistol. Eventually, the guard drew his sword and D.D. ran off, making towards Snake who took now chances and squeezed the trigger. His aim was as good as ever as the guard stumbled and eventually fell asleep. Snake pulled the top back onto the box and stood up again, running into the keep.

The entry hall was massive, one of the biggest rooms he'd seen and, oddly enough was empty as the various nobles and servants left the hall to carry on their business. Near the back, Snake saw a head of long auburn hair heading into a hallway. _There she is_ , Snake thought as he ran towards the hallway, relying on D.D., who was keeping pace next to him, to keep watch around him. He reached the door a good bit after Sansa had closed it and quietly slipped through it, peering through his slot into the hallway.

Ahead of him, a hallway not unlike the last castle he'd snuck into stretched out ahead of him. It was dark, tight and had plenty of alcoves to hide in should a guard come calling. Near the end of the hall, Snake saw a spiral staircase where he could barely hear footsteps echoing down to the hallway. Figuring that'd be his destination he began to move down the hallway. Unfortunately for him, this hallway was well traveled and many times Snake had to duck into a hallway with D.D. hiding behind his box. But, after some time he finally reached the spiral stairway. He pulled off his box before heading up the stairway, figuring it would be too clunky. The stairway in question was made the hallway he'd just left seem wide and open in comparison. D.D. was ahead of him, sniffing to make sure the way up was clear. Snake kept his pistol drawn, knowing that he'd have little to no time if someone was coming down the stairs. Eventually D.D. stopped in front of a wooden door, sniffing at it. Snake got down next to D.D. and pressed an ear to the door only to hear a soft crying. He reached for the door and slowly pushed it open, pistol at the ready. Inside, he heard shuffling as someone got to their feet and the same girls voice yell out. "Just a moment, please!" Snake looked inside to see Sansa standing in front of a mirror, adjusting her appearance as D.D. padded into the room, trotting up to her brazen as he pleased.

Sansa stopped and looked at the dog, smiling and crouching to pet him. "Oh, hello there. Where did you come from?" Snake stepped into the room and holstered his pistol, closing the door behind him as he looked at the girl. His attention was directed to D.D. constantly licking at Sansa's arms. She finally stopped petting D.D. and looked up to notice him, taking a step back and putting a hand to her chest. "Who are you?"

Snake took a step forward. "Snake. I'm here to get you out."

Sansa was breathing deeply now, obviously scared of him. Not that Snake blamed her, he wasn't the most inspiring sight, what with his eyepatch, scars and shrapnel horn. She looked at him. "Who are you working for? What do you want with me?!" She picked up a brush, apparently ready to throw it.

Snake was undaunted and took another step forward. "I'm not going to hurt you, calm down."

Sansa kept breathing hard, brandishing the brush. "Just leave me alone…" Down by her feet, D.D. nudged at her legs and whined.

Snake smiled reassuringly, or so he hoped. "He likes you."

Sansa looked down at the dog, noticing his missing eye. "Where's his eye?"

Snake shrugged, taking another step forward. "Don't know. He'd already lost it when I found him."

Sansa looked at him. "He's yours?"

"Yeah. Found him a while ago."

She nodded and looked at him, setting the brush down. "Are you really here to save me?"

Snake nodded once and she looked down, setting the brush down before continuing. "I'm sorry I panicked, Ser. I wasn't aware you were coming."

Snake sighed. "I'm not a knight, no need to call me Sir."

"What should I call you then?"

"… Call me Snake."

Sansa raised an eyebrow. "Snake? A rather strange name."

Snake rolled his eye. "A strange name for a strange man, now can we get going?"

Sansa clasped her hands. "Don't you have an escape route planned Se- Snake?"

Snake looked around the room. "Is there a way to the roof of this keep?"

"If we go back down into the keep, yes. But the guards will never let us through."

Snake smirked. "Didn't stop me." He walked over to the window and looked down. The tower was set into the side of the keep itself and below him Snake could see the roof of the keep. "Perfect." He looked down the tower itself, judging the distance to be around 8 feet from the window to the roof below. "Alright, we're getting out of here." He turned to face Sansa, who had been packing a few things up before looking up at him.

"How are we leaving, Ser?"

Snake ignored her calling him 'Ser' again to take a step back, lifting his silenced assault rifle before shooting out the window. "The roof. I'll need your help with this."

Sansa looked at the window. "Ser, the only way off the roof is to climb and the drop is too far to jump from here."

Snake shrugged. "I can deal with it, now help me."

Sansa looked at the door for a moment then nodded. "What do you need me to do?"

Snake turned to D.D. "First things first, D.D. come!" The dog left Sansa's side and trotted over to Snake, put his arms under the dogs belly and lifted him up before speaking to Sansa, "Alright, you see a little handle on the top of D.D.'s harness?" She nodded and walked over to the two as Snake went on. "I'm going to hold D.D. out the window and you're going to pull it."

"What?!" Sansa yelled. "He could be hurt!"

"He'll be fine, now help me out!" He walked over to the window and held D.D. out the window. Besides a quick whine D.D. seemed ok, apparently trusting his master. Sansa took a deep breath then walked over and pulled the handle, only to jump back in shock as a balloon quickly inflated, pulling D.D. into the air, who whined as he floated up into the clouds. Over Snake's comm he heard Kaz say, "Got it Snake, we'll pick him up. You gonna signal Pequod with a flare?"

Snake nodded before responding with a quick, "Yeah" as he pulled out a short length of rope, tying it to an outcropping above the window and letting the rope dangle in front of the window.

Sansa eyed the rope, eyes wide as she wrung her hands, "Is that how we're leaving?"

Snake nodded and grabbed the rope, his back to Sansa, "Get on my back."

She blinked but didn't move, "What?"

Snake sighed before growling, "Put your arms around my neck and legs around my waist!"

Sansa blushed. "Ser… I don't think that… I am betrothed…"

Snake sighed and looked at Sansa, "It's either you get on my back or I throw you over my shoulder, got it?"

Sansa crossed her arms. "Ser, I will not be taken like some wildling beyond the wall!"

Past the door, Snake heard footsteps tromping up the towers, "Damn, out of time." He stormed over and threw Sansa over his right shoulder. She yelped when he grabbed her and started struggling on his shoulder and yelling, "Put me down! Help!" Snake ignored her as he walked over to the rope, taking it in his left hand before stepping onto the window sill. Behind him the door flew open and knights stormed out just as Snake started repelling down the towers, using his left hand to grip the rope. With most people, they'd worry about rope burn and the grip not being strong enough. But Snake's left hand had neither issue due to being a prosthetic. After a quick slide down the rope, they had reached the roof. Snake immediately pulled off a flare and tossed it out onto the roof, watching it pop and spew green smoke into the air. He stepped back from the tower and shifted Sansa on his shoulders, placing her on his left shoulder, where she kept yelling for help, and draw his pistol with his right. Above him, he saw an armored figure look down at the pair. Snake raised his pistol and fired, nailing the knight in the forehead who then fell through the broken window, landing on his head with a sickening crunch. Over his shoulder, Sansa looked and screamed at the most likely dead knight who was bleeding profusely from the head.

Above him, more shouting could be heard and footsteps down the tower. By now Sansa was beating Snake's back to make him release her, struggling in his grip. Snake ignored Sansa's resistance before turning to the roof, where he noticed a wooden hatch on the ground. Figuring they'd come from there, he raised his pistol at the hatch and waited. The roof was quiet, the knights in the tower having long ran back into said tower. The silence was only broken by Sansa's screaming and thrashing over his shoulder.

"Put me down!" She cried, beating Snake's back.

Snake looked over his shoulder at her. "Will you run if I put you down?"

She paused and looked at him. "…No…"

Snake merely sighed and returned his attention to the hatch. "Right…" At that moment, the hatch flew open and a knight came up what Snake assumed was a ladder, crying out "Stop right there!" Snake cut the knight off with a tranq round to the head. The knight immediately fell back down the ladder, apparently knocking down other guards as he fell judging by the noise. Behind him, Snake heard the sounds of a helicopter slowly getting closer as he shot down another knight who climbed up the ladder, who again fell back down it. Then, yet another knight came up the ladder, this time wearing a helm. Snake didn't even bother with his pistol, instead dumping Sansa on the ground and raising his rifle, firing a quick burst into the knight's chest plate. Luckily, medieval plate wasn't built to stop 5.56 rounds and the knight crumpled to the ground. Behind him, Sansa crawled a bit away from Snake but didn't get up, instead watching as Snake gunned down another knight who came up the ladder. Snake dropped the rifle, letting it hang from its strap as he grabbed a grenade lobbing it down the hole before hefting his rifle again. Down the hole a loud bang was heard along with the cries of yet more guards most likely ripped apart by the grenade.

At last, the helicopter finally arrived, hovering over the roof as over Snake's radio he heard, "This is Pequod, have arrived at LZ!" Snake turned and looked down at Sansa who was still on the ground. "This is our ride, lets go." He knelt and grabbed her arm, pulling her to her feet. Sansa's eyes were on the chopper, wide and in shock. "Wh-wha…" she said as she looked at it.

Snake ignored her shock as he pulled her into the chopper, lifting her into the cabin before hoping up himself, strapping himself in and triggering the minigun just in time for two more guards to come up through the hatch. Sadly for them, they were met with Snake's minigun who tore the men to shreds with 2 quick bursts. Snake looked at the pilot, yelling out, "Go!" The helicopter's engines spun up as the chopper departed, Snake laying down fire all on the hatch until they were out of Kings Landing.

* * *

Snake got up from his spot at the side of the chopper and closed the door, turning to look at Sansa, who had sat down on one of the chairs, hugging her self and shaking. "What… what is this thing?"

Snake reached under a seat and pulled out a jacket, carefully putting it around her shoulders. "It's a helicopter. We use it for transport."

She looked out a window, out onto the landscape below them. "Are we… flying?"

Snake sat down before nodding. "Yeah, we are."

Sansa looked at Snake, eyes wide with fear and perhaps wonder? "Are you a sorcerer?"

He smiled at that. "No, just a man." He relaxed in his usual spot in the back of the cabin as Sansa pulled the jacket close around her.

"Where are we going?" She asked.

"Mother Base."

"Where is that?"

"Out at sea. I think you call it the Narrow Sea?"

"Is it an island?"

Snake looked at Sansa. "It's a plant. An artificial island of sorts."

Sansa looked down. "And there?"

Snake shrugged. "We'll ask you some questions then take you where you want to go."

Sansa looked Snake in the eye. "And if I want to go home or see my mother?"

"Then we go there."

Sansa leaned back in her seat and sighed, mumbling to herself, "After you're done with me…"

Snake sighed. "We're not going to keep you for long. What we need to know are simple, who is who. It'll be a day at most, I promise."

Sansa looked at Snake, her gaze hard. "I've had plenty of promises, Ser."

Snake didn't reply to this, instead turning his gaze to her arms. "You're hurt."

Sansa furrowed her brow. "What?"

He pointed at her arms, still dark with dried dog saliva. "D.D. is trained to lick wounds. You're hurt."

Sansa looked at her arms and sighed before pulling her sleeves up to below her elbows, revealing multiple bruises along her arms. Snake got up off her seat, grabbing one of her forearms and looking it over. He was quiet for a time before asking, "Did he hit you?"

"No. He had men for that."

"Did they do anything else?"

Sansa looked out the window. "My virtue needed to be intact."

Snake nodded and released her forearm before moving back to his chair. "I'll have my men do a medical check up on you, make sure there are no issues."

Sansa looked at Snake. "You'd let men examine a woman?"

Snake shrugged. "I have female medical staff. They can do it." He looked up at the pilot. "When we arrive, set us down at the primary medical platform." The pilot nodded as the cabin fell silent yet again, with both passengers lost in their own thoughts.

* * *

After another hour, the pilot yelled back into the cabin, "Almost home Boss!" Sansa looked up as Snake nodded and walked over to the door, sliding it open before sitting down and strapping in, looking out at the wide expanse of Mother Base, rising out of the ocean. Sansa crept up behind him and sucked in a breath as she looked at Mother Base. "Wow…" she said, looking at the metal constructs.

Snake smiled. "Welcome to Mother Base, Sansa."

The helicopter flew towards the medical platform, hovering over the landing pad before setting down. There to greet them was a medical team with a stretcher and the familiar figure of Kazuhira Miller, waiting for Snake and Sansa to disembark. Snake leapt of the chopper as soon as it set down and turned, offering a hand to help Sansa down, who took it. Despite her situation, she looked for all the world like a noblewoman stepping off a carriage, despite her hair whipping from the helicopter's downdraft. Said chopper spun up and left as Kaz walked up to the two of them.

"So, this is Sansa?" Kaz said, looking down at the girl.

Snake nodded. Sansa's eyes were locked on the empty sleeve hanging from Kaz's left shoulder. He smiled when he noticed Sansa's gaze. "Not used to seeing this?"

Sansa's gaze immediately fell. "I apologize, Ser. I meant no offense."

Kaz kept smiling. "Relax, I don't mind. Got used to it a long time ago."

Sansa met Kaz's gaze and nodded before looking at the stretcher. "Who's that for, Ser?"

Kaz turned and looked at the stretcher. "You. It's standard procedure for anyone hurt. Even if it's minor." He looked at Snake who nodded before looking back at Sansa.

She met Kaz's gaze. "It's nothing, Ser. I'm quite alright."

Kaz walked up to her then raised his crutch to lightly tap the side of her arm. Despite herself, Sansa winced as he hit one of her bruises. "Just fine huh? We just want to look you over, make sure nothing's wrong."

Snake looked at Sansa before lightly resting a hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine. Trust me."

Sansa met Snake's gaze before nodded and walking over to the stretcher, where one of the staff helped her onto it before the team wheeled her towards the main building.

Kaz walked up to Snake, "What do you think Boss?"

"Looked pretty minor, just some bruising. D.D. didn't sniff anything else."

"I meant mentally."

Snake sighed. "She's been traumatized, that's obvious. I doubt she'll trust anyone until we take her home."

Kaz sighed. "Right… Ocelot and I had some things we wanted to talk over with you. We can do that while they examine her."

Snake nodded. "Fine, we can talk with Sansa after our meeting." Kaz nodded as the two of them started walking towards the medical building. "Where are we meeting?"

Kaz shrugged. "Probably outside the examination room. Ocelot set something up to make sure we get as much intel out of her as we can."

Snake nodded as they entered the building, heading down a hallway before entering a side room. It reminded Snake of the room next to "Room 101" where interrogations where usually held. Unlike "Room 101" this room was occupied with recording equipment, two men sitting at desks with pens and paper and Ocelot, who was looking through the two-way mirror at the examination taking place in the main room. Kaz stepped into the room. "Ocelot, we were gonna talk with Snake?"

Ocelot turned to look at the two of them, "Right. Boss, Miller and I had some ideas for what we could here."

Kaz looked at Snake. "Remember our fuel issues? We may have a solution to that. What do you know about Ethanol?"

Snake shrugged. "It's fuel made from food right? Corn and stuff?"

Kaz nodded. "Yeah. Well, we've been working on a new kind of ethanol. We call it cellulosic ethanol."

Ocelot chimed in. "Most ethanol is made with sugar or starch based plant material. It's why it's not ideal for use since its made out of stuff we eat."

"But cellulosic ethanol can be made with any plant material, grass, wood, leaves, anything."

Snake crossed his arms. "What's your point? You want to make it using spare plant matter on Mother Base?"

Kaz shook his head. "I already gave the order to do that. My idea is to send teams out to harvest plant matter elsewhere."

Ocelot opened a folder and pulled out a copy of a hand drawn map. "More exactly, from where." He pointed at the eastern continent. "It's called the Dothraki Sea. It's basically a giant grassland. We plan to send in teams to harvest the grass for fuel. Ship it back here for processing."

Snake nodded. "Any down sides to this?"

"The Dothraki." Kaz answered. "Basically, a bunch of mounted archers. They wander the grasslands raiding settlements."

"Like the Mongols then?" Snake asked.

Ocelot smirked. "Pretty much. I figure we can use some of our armor to ward them off. Enough losses and they should withdraw."

Snake nodded. "Alright, set it up. Anything else."

Ocelot nodded. "Yup. I want to send out teams to gather Intel in both Westeros and Essos."

"Westeros?" Snake asked.

"It's the name of one of the continents here. Same with Essos."

Snake nodded. "Go on then."

Ocelot nodded. "I want to send teams out to gather intel on the ground. Go into towns and cities and ask questions, that sort of thing. They'll be in radio contact at all times so we can pull them out."

Kaz added in his two cents, "I think its too risky."

"No more risky than what we did in the past." Snake said. He looked at Ocelot and nodded. "Set it up. The more intel we have, the better."

Ocelot nodded before the three returned their attention to the examination, which was just wrapping up as one of the counselors sat next to Sansa asking her various questions. Ocelot looked at Snake. "Wanna hear them talk?" His hand went for a switch on the wall but Snake held up a hand, shaking his head. Ocelot nodded and lowered his hand, looking back out the two-way mirror at Sansa who was finishing up her talk with a counselor. Said counselor got to her feet and smiled at Sansa who smiled back before curtseying as the counselor left the room, walking into the observation room.

"You have a report?" Kaz asked.

"Yes sir." The counselor asked. "Physically, all she has are various bruises on her arms and torso. Mentally… she's scared out of her mind Commander. She hides it well but she is. Whoever goes in to talk with her should be exceedingly gentle with her. She's been through a lot."

Ocelot asked, "Any sign of Stockholm Syndrome?"

The counselor shook her head. "No, she has an extreme dislike of her captors, she called them Lannisters. No signs of that."

Kaz nodded. "Got it. Anything else?"

The counselor looked down at her notes. "Just one. Miss Stark seems to be fixated on courtesy and being a proper lady. My guess is that it's her way of coping with tense situations. Perhaps picked up from the environment she was extracted from."

Snake nodded, "That makes sense. When she was talking with Joffrey she went out of her way to be demure and dainty."

Ocelot snorted, "Considering how unstable that boy is, I can't blame her."

Kaz nodded. "It also explains how she acted when you landed. She looked like she was being helped out of a carriage for a ball, not out of a helicopter in a merc base."

"So she acts proper when she's afraid. Anything else?" Snake asked the counselor.

The counselor shook her head and Kaz looked at her. "Alright then, dismissed." The counselor saluted and walked out, leaving her notes in the room for the three of them to look over.

Ocelot leaned against the table and crossed his arms. "So, who's going in there?"

Kaz looked at Ocelot, "Anyone but you. She needs help, not you getting your kicks from her."

Ocelot rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't do my usual routine on her."

Snake held up a hand to forestall another argument. "Enough." He looked at Kaz. "Can you handle this?"

He nodded and Snake looked at Ocelot, "She knows Kaz. It might make her feel safer."

Ocelot shrugged. "I doubt she'll feel safe regardless, Boss. But alright, it's your call."

Snake looked at Kaz and nodded, who then limped out of the room. Ocelot then turned to the 2 other men in the room. "Get the recorders up and running and get ready to take notes."

Snake raised an eyebrow at this. "Notes and recordings?"

Ocelot shrugged as he flipped the switch on the wall, "To make sure we get as much intel as possible. The intel staff my note something the recorders miss and vis versa."

"Redundancy, I get it." In the examination room. Kaz had just limped inside and walked over to a chair, greeting Sansa. "Hello Miss Stark. How are you feeling?"

Sansa gave Kaz a charming smile, her hands on her lap, "I'm fine, My Lord. Thank you." She seemed the perfect, demure lady of course. Ocelot pressed the button on the room's mic. "Miller, let her keep her noble façade. It'll keep her calm."

Kaz nodded ever so slightly before slowly sitting down, struggling for a moment with his crutch before Sansa got up and took his hand, freezing up at her boldness. Kaz, however simply smiled at her, "Thanks, just stand still for a sec." He put his hand on her shoulder and finally sat down, letting go of her as he settled. Sansa simply curtseyed before returning to the bed, sitting daintily as Kaz cleared his throat. "So, you're a Stark right? The family in charge of the Northern Kingdom?"

After a moment, she replied, quickly though as if her life depended on it, "Yes, but it's rightfully the domain of his Grace King Joffrey."

Beside Snake, Ocelot mumbled something about her programing as Kaz nodded. "Alright, and who is the North's current leader, your father?"

Sansa swallowed before replying, "He was, until he was executed."

"What for?"

She looked down at her hands, "He was a traitor to the Realm. He tried to seize the Iron Throne for himself." Her tone was flat, as if repeating the words of another.

Kaz looked at Sansa a moment then sighed before going on, "I'm sorry, Miss Stark. I know what it's like to lose a father."

Sansa simply nodded, still looking at her hands. Kaz regarded her for a moment then reached up to remove his glasses before reaching out to gently pull her chin up, making her meet his gaze. Her eyes were glassy, clouded over from the tears welling up. Kaz gently said, "It's alright to cry, we've all lost something here." She blinked before choking out, "Your eyes…"

Kaz smiled sadly, "Cataracts, makes everything blurry. Nothing compared to everything else, really." Sansa's eyes looked to his empty sleeve at his right before a single tear ran down the side of her face. Kaz's hand caught it and wiped it off, "It's alright, you're safe here. Joffrey won't ever hurt you again."

Sansa sniffed once before beginning to cry in earnest, "I want to go home. To Winterfell."

Kaz nodded, "We'll take you home Sansa. I promise." He reached into his coat and pulled out a handkerchief before offering it to Sansa, who wiped off her face before replying, "I'm sorry, My Lord. I didn't mean to do that."

Kaz sat back, "Don't worry about it, Miss Stark. Now, can I ask you a favor?"

Sansa looked up at Kaz, setting the hankie down on the bed, "What?"

Kaz grinned, "Most of us have never been to Westeros before, you mind helping us out? All you'd need to do is just answer some questions. Its ok if you can't, you'll go home either way."

Sansa looked down at her hands as he considered the question. In the side room, Ocelot smirked, "I'll be damned, he played her like a Stradivarius."

Snake looked at Ocelot, "I wouldn't call it playing her. It was sincerity, I think. You know how he is with kids."

Ocelot snorted, "Got a point there, Boss. Either way, she'll help us."

In the examination room, Sansa looked up at Kaz and nodded, "Ok, I'll help you. On one condition."

Kaz smiled, "Alright, what is it?"

"You help my brother win the war."

Ocelot barked out a quick laugh, "Damn, she's better than I thought!"

Kaz smirked, "Alright, we can do that." He relaxed in his chair, "You're not a bad negotiator, you know."

Sansa smiled, a genuine smile, the first Snake had seen on her, "Thank you, My Lord."

Ocelot looked at Snake, "Boss, we can take it from here. Go clean up and get some rest. We can debrief you on your way to Winterfell."

Snake looked at the gunslinger, "You plan on taking her home then?"

Ocelot shrugged, "Why not? We'll get a reward and a way of getting more work. Nice and easy with her along. And we need the work."

Snake nodded, "When he's done with Sansa, have Kaz draw up a list of resources we may need."

"Right, see ya Boss." Snake turned and left the room, making for the outside.

* * *

By the time Snake finished the long walk to the command platform, night had fallen, the sky lit up with a red hue by the comet overhead. He stopped and looked up at it, having mostly ignored it most of the day due to various distractions. He'd seen another comet once, Halley's Comet according to Kaz. He smiled as the memories came flowing back. The men had been fascinated by the wisp of light in the sky. All through it's time near the Earth, Snake had seen his men standing outside in the dead of night, looking up. But this comet, whatever it was named, put Halley's to shame. It seemed to arc over half the sky.

Snake smirked as he remembered, it had been like the moon landing in '69. He'd been… he'd seen it at…

Snake growled as he put his left hand to his head, even now after a decade he struggled to remember his past life. His name was the hardest to remember, all he had was flashed of Vietnam, of growing up in a city in the 1950's… But those memories could very well just be Big Boss's. He sighed before lowering his arm as he felt a small hand on his shoulder. He looked up and turned, already knowing who it was.

And sure enough, there was Quiet, a concerned look on her face. Snake sighed, "I'm fine." She raised an eyebrow, challenging him. "I mean it, I'm alright." Quiet sighed and shook her head before striding past Snake, her hand trailing on his shoulder and down his arm before removing it as she walked out onto the platform. Snake's eyes were drawn to her butt for a moment before he regained his self-control and looked up at the back of her head. Quiet had stopped and was now looking up at the comet. Snake strode up next to her and looked at her expression. She had this look of awe as she looked up at the red light strewn across the sky. "Never seen one, have you?" Quiet blinked, then looked at Snake before shaking her head, looking back up at the comet.

Snake went on, "One came through in '86. The men stood around outside looking up at it every night." He looked up at the comet for a moment before going on, his voice barely audible, "Too bad you never got to see it." Quiet looked at Snake and gave a sad smile, opening her mouth to speak before stopping short, shutting her mouth and sighing, looking down at her feet. Snake smiled and rested his hand on her shoulder before giving voice to her thoughts, "I know, you're here now." She looked back up at Snake and grinned before both of them looked back up at the comet.

 **AN: Sorry it took so long to update guys, I blame Crusader Kings II. But, I finally got the damn thing up. First off, I know that the tourney part of this chapter will most likely not match up perfectly with the chapter in the book. Sorry, but I don't have the book on hand or the desire to get another copy to use. In all honesty, this story is gonna go off the rails FAST so the plot of the books will be derailed to the point that the books are useless plotwise. Also, I hope I got Sansa right. I figured at this stage she was clinging to her courtesies like a shield but hadn't learn how to manipulate people intentionally. Hopefully, I got her right but do feel free to let me know if I fucked up. Speaking of which...**

 **Review answers! Got a lot here due to me not updating in forever (Again, sorry). I'm gonna have to focus on the long reviews for answers though short reviews that pique my interest will be answered as well. Here we go:**

 **Guest 1: As for accepting the job, Snake had no intention of following her orders. He just took the book and left. As to the resources, your review did have me put some thought into the resources issue, thanks for that by the way, and I think I've figured out what the Diamond Dogs would need to operate without the infrastructure around them.**

 **ww1990ww: Yeah, Harems are rarely well done. As to the fight comment, eh... on one hand if all of Westeros came together, they could probably find and sack Mother Base. And enough men would kill Snake. On the other hand, the medieval equivalent of a Tank was a Knight in Shining Armor. The Metal Gear equivalent of a tank is, well, a tank. So yeah.**

 **Cryo Shot: Yeah, a romantic Snake is not. But, luckily Quiet is back so no need to figure out how to get Snake with someone else.**

 **Riggnorok: Gonna try to replicate the Heroism system of the game by having Diamond Dogs gain fame as time goes on. Right now, they're pretty unknown. But, that will change my friend, that will change.**

 **Tuan07: Yeah, I would love to have an editor or something. And yeah, I spend half the time reading up on lore and or listening to PP tapes before writing. It's annoying as hell sometimes...**

 **Vinyl Scratch3: First off, love the name. Second off, well... hm... spoilers.**

 **Sceonn: They made for Westeros without knowing it was there. But trust me, I'll be using Essos plenty. The travel time of GoT leaves a ton of time for the much, MUCH faster Diamond Dogs to find other work. And they will, oh they will.**

 **Naosji: First off, tell me about it. This fandom needs more goddamn fanfics. As to the second review; if Big Boss had arrived with the Diamond Dogs, Outer Heaven would be priority 1, once he got his bearings. But Venom isn't Big Boss, so different priorities. Miller and Venom ran a merc band so they'd stick to it. Also, who's Vimesenthusiast?**

 **AlternativeFutureFan27: You wanted a longer chapter, you got it mate. Hopefully I'll keep it up. As to the arm idea, I doubt there's enough Valyrian Steel to make a hand for Snake and sadly Ocelot and Miller can't replicate anything close, as Valyrian Steel is basically magical Damascus Steel which we can't recreate even now. And that's ignoring the magic. That being said, the arm might get a variant. I think the basic arms can take blows from swords and such. I'll see what happens, who knows.**

 **Alright, that about does it guys. Hopefully my next update will come sooner but I'll try to have a similar chapter length for the next update. See you all later!**


	4. Chapter 4

The next morning, the Sun rose to a Mother Base already alert and moving. Most of the activity was focused on the medical platform where a maintenance crew surrounded a helicopter, rearming and refueling it. The pilot stood nearby, watching and smoking a cigarette. Further down the platform, away from the noise of the work, Snake and Ocelot stood, both looking at the book taken from Dragonstone.

"Alright, according to this map Winterfell is located near the center of this part of the continent." Ocelot said as he pointed to the northern lobe of Westeros. "Apparently it's the capital of the North, which is this chunk here." He circled the North with his finger on the map. "Gonna be a long trip there, few hours or so."

Snake looked down at the map, noting the border divisions between regions, "North's pretty big. Shouldn't have trouble winning the war if they play it smart."

"According to this, it's pretty empty. Not as settled as you'd think." Ocelot smirked. "Of course, you'll get a bird's eye view of most of it during the trip. You'll be over water until you match Winterfell's latitude, roughly, then fly in over land. Bit slower but it'll keep you away from any major population centers."

"Right." He looked around the pad as the workers scurried off, the chopper now set for the trip. "Where's Sansa?"

"Here," Came Miller's reply from behind the two of them as he limped out onto the deck. Sansa walked beside him, looking the perfect picture of a demure lady, were it not for the tension in her muscles that gave away her fear. "She's ready to go. You taking anyone else with you, Boss?"

Snake opened his mouth to reply only for the sound of Quiet reappearing to interrupt her. She leaned on the helicopter next to the door, arms crossed and waiting for the rest of them to arrive, her rifle slung on her back. Snake looked at her then turned to Miller. "Guess she is."

He looked at Sansa. "Ready to go?"

She nodded, bowing lightly. "Yes, My Lord."

At that, Snake sighed but turned to walk towards the chopper, not bothering to correct her as the rest followed him, Ocelot keeping pace with Snake as they walked. "Best bet'll be landing some distance away then moving in. Avoid spoking them too much."

Snake opened the door and looked back at Miller and Ocelot. "Might send a message to land in the middle of the yard. Show our power."

The gunslinger crossed his arms. "It'd scare the shit out of them too."

Miller finally caught up and offered his two cents. "We are delivering their… sister? Who's in charge of that castle now?"

From behind them, Sansa spoke up. "My brother Robb is Lord of Winterfell now."

"Right, sister then. They'll be happy with us. Might even see us as Gods."

Ocelot rolled his eyes, "They won't see us as gods, Miller."

As Miller turned to look at Ocelot, mouth opening to retort, Snake spoke up. "Enough, we'll figure it out en route." He opened the chopper door, letting Quiet climb in and take her usual seat. He held out a hand to Sansa who slowly walked up, took Snake's hand and climbed into the chopper, like a princess entering a carriage. As Snake climbed into the cabin, Miller yelled out. "Get us more work while you're out there!"

Snake nodded and closed the door, the chopper spinning up and lifting off as Ocelot and Miller stepped back from the pad. Inside the cabin, Quiet and Snake sat down in the cabin, getting comfortable as Sansa grabbed her chair in a death grip. Quiet offered her a smile, which Sansa reciprocated but kept her grip on the rail. Quiet's gaze turned to Snake who shrugged in response. And with that, the long trip began.

* * *

A few hours later, the helicopter sped over the empty lands of the North, taking a windy route to avoid detection by locals. Inside the cabin, Snake was listening to one of his tapes while Quiet laid on the seating, eyes closer and waiting. Sansa had calmed down after an hour of flight and was now looking out the window at her homeland streaking under them. In the cockpit, Pequod yelled back into the cabin. "Getting close Boss, what's the plan?"

Snake paused the tape and looked at Sansa. She had sat back down, her fear induced tension now changed into an excitement. Snake guess that if not for her training in propriety, she'd be bouncing in her seat. He turned his attention to Pequod and said back, "Set us down in the yard. And play something as go. May as well have an entrance." Quiet sighed and shook her head from her position on the seating.

Pequod looked back at Snake, "You sure Boss?" Snake nodded and Pequod turned back to the controls, heading towards Winterfell. Snake opened his iDroid and looked through his music options, pondering what to play as Quiet sat up. Sansa looked at the iDroid projection, almost hypnotized by the hologram. Snake eventually selected his choice, which Pequod then commented on. "Stay Away eh? Not bad Boss, not bad."

Outside the chopper, the speakers flared to life with late 80's Toto as the Chopper approached Wintefell. On the Castle walls, guards, spooked by the music started running into the castle, with yet more running out into the yard, swords held at the ready as the chopper hovered over the castle, slowly setting down in the yard with the music still blaring from the speakers. Snake opened the cabin and climbed out into the yard, feeling the cold of the Northern air and looking at the guards, who almost to a man looked scared out of their minds at the sight before them. The other door opened and Quiet stepped out, cloaking as she sped off, the sound of her movements covered by the loud chopper's music and rotors. Snake turned to see Sansa moving towards the door. Rather than offering her his hand, Snake instead reached out and grabbed her, lifting her out of the chopper and setting her down outside before signaling Pequod to kill the music and rotors.

Sansa slowly stepped out from the under the rotors, looking around with wide eyes at Winterfell. The guards started mumbling about Lady Sansa returning as one stepped forward. He was and older man, with long white hair and wearing more well-made clothing than the rest. He slowly stepped forward towards Sansa. "Lady Sansa? Is that you?"

Sansa looked at the man. "Ser Cassel…" She swallowed and smiled, tears rolling down her face. "I… I'm home!" She broke into a run and embraced Cassel, who patted her back awkwardly. "Er, yes. Perhaps you wish to see your brothers?" Sansa let go of the man and nodded then paused. "One moment, Ser. I need to do something first." She turned and walked over to Snake before curtseying low, "Thank you Ser for saving me from Kings Landing. I am forever in your debt. Please, take this as a symbol of my favor." She reached into her dress and pulled out a handkerchief, offering it to Snake who awkwardly took it, looking down at it. "Uh… thanks."

Sansa shook her head. "No, Ser. Thank you." With that, she turned and started walking into the castle, with two guards in breaking off the group to follow her. Cassel walked over to Snake, face neutral. "Thank you for returning our Lady to us. But, I must ask why you didn't get both of them? Lady Arya was also held in King's Landing with Sansa."

Over the radio, Miller answered the question to Snake, "They never had her, she escaped. The Lannisters have no idea where she is now." Snake made no indication of hearing Miller and replied to Cassel, "She wasn't there. Apparently she escaped before the Lannisters could grab her."

Cassel sighed. "That is… both good and bad news. Thank you regardless. How can we repay you for what you have done for the Starks? Name anything and you shall have it."

Snake nodded in reply. "I'll need a moment to think." As he stepped back, putting a finger to his earpiece, it crackled to life first with Quiet's humming then Miller's voice.

"Alright Boss, biggest issue will be ammunition for our weapons. So we'll need brass and lead most of all, maybe a bit of copper as well." Miller told him, "Otherwise… that's about it really."

"How about gunpowder?" Snake asked, now pacing as he kept his voice down. The northerners watched him pace, still standing back with weapons drawn in fear.

Over the radio, Miller sighed. "I doubt they know what we'd need for gunpowder. We'd need to find other ways to work with that."

Ocelot chose that moment to butt in. "When you get back, I have a couple ideas to run by you, Boss. Might help us in the long run."

Snake sighed. "Right, we'll handle that later. How should we move the materials? I'm thinking they just leave it somewhere isolated and we Fulton it all. How much will we need?"

Over the radio, the sound of one of them leafing through papers could be heard before Miller replied. "Around… I'd say we start with 5000 pounds raw materials, even 50/50 split. Should last us long enough to build up our own supply through under sea mining. Thank God we tried to be self-sufficient…"

Snake nodded. "Ok, any gold?"

"Not yet," Ocelot replied, "We'll ask for gold after we do more work."

Snake lowered his finger and turned back towards the still scared stiff northerners, walking up to Cassel. "We'll need around 5000 pounds of ore, unrefined is fine. Take them out around 5 miles south of here and set them in a clearing in the forest. We'll handle transport from there."

Cassel paused then cleared his throat before replying. "Are you sure you don't want gold? Gathering that much ore will take more time…"

Snake shook his head. "Gold will come in later jobs. Speaking of which, we need work. Any suggestions?"

Cassel blinked, surprised at the request. "You wish for more work? Well… His Grace, King Robb could use your aid in the South. He is currently at Riverrun, last we heard. We will send a raven telling him of you. If you do not get there first…" He looked over at the helicopter, leery of the machine.

Snake nodded and turned towards the chopper, walking over to it. In the distance the sound of small explosions could be heard, spooking the guards of Winterfell as Quiet moved in, eventually leaping down next to the chopper as Snake opened the door. Quiet regarded the men assembled to meet them then turned to walk into the chopper, her hips swaying. As she arrived at the now open cabin door, she smirked at Snake, indicated her head at the now lusty guards behind her then climbed into the helicopter. Snake smiled back at her, took one last look at Winterfell and her men, and then followed Quiet into the chopper. And with the whirring of rotor blades and the blaring of obscure 80's rock, the Diamond Dogs departed.

* * *

The chopper flew over the rolling hills and forests of northern Westeros, making a beeline for Riverrun. Inside the chopper, Snake listened to yet another of his tapes as Quiet looked out the window, admiring the land beneath them. The pilot yelled back into the cockpit. "Boss, we're getting close to Riverrun."

With that, Snake stirred, turning off his music as the pilot went on. "How should we handle this one? Land in the yard music blasting?"

Snake shook his head. "Land a bit off, mile or so. Quiet and I can walk the rest of the way." The pilot nodded as the helicopter began to slow, eventually hovering over a stretch of road. As Snake opened the door, he could see a large 3 sided castle down the road. Quiet prowled over, standing next to Snake as he commented. "Think they see us?" She simply nodded in reply as Snake went on, "Well, guess we should be ready to be met half way then. Keep sharp." He hopped out, landing on the ground some 6 feet away, Quiet following soon after, landing silently next to him. The chopper then broke off, flying off with the familiar "Be careful down there Boss."

Now alone on the road, Quiet pulled her rifle to her front, hefting it before jerking her head down the road, obviously wanting to get moving. Snake walked forward a bit, eyebrow raised. "You plan to walk with me?" Quiet shrugged in reply. Snake mirrored her shrug then started walking, with Quiet following to his left, slightly behind him.

"Guess she wants to keep an eye on ya, Boss," Ocelot commented over the radio. Snake could practically hear the smirk in his voice.

"Surprised she's still around, considering what happened last time she joined us." Miller added, as blunt as ever.

Behind him, Snake barely had time to process the sound of Quiet's rifle hitting her side as she dropped it before she took a large step forward and put an arm around Snake's. He paused and looked down at her, puzzled. "Uh… what are you doing?" Quiet simply looked up at him then pointed down the road, as if to say "Let's go." Snake paused a moment, looking down at her, then shrugged, adjusting his arm so that hers rested in the crook of his elbow.

"Did she just…" Miller said.

Ocelot cut him off before he could go on, "Yup. Guess she's making her feelings clear this time."

Quiet smiled and hummed, apparently satisfied with herself. Snake didn't simply kept walking, silently escorting her down the road towards Riverrun. The road was quiet, the silence only interrupted by various animal noise. Birds chirping and cawing overhead, the rustle of the grass as small creatures lurked near the road. Then, the silence was again interrupted, this time by the faint hoof beats of horses. In front of the two soldiers, a small dust cloud could be seen, road dirt cast into the air by the impact of hooves upon it. With this sign of oncoming engagement, Quiet and Snake broke off their linked arms, Quiet pulling her sniper rifle into her hands and Snake doing the same with the assault rifle at his hip. "Don't be too aggressive but be ready to move." Quiet nodded, taking a step away from Snake and hefting her rifle.

Before long, the horsemen were upon them. The Sigils on their chest were mixed, some bearing a leaping fish and others a leaping wolf.

"A Fish?" Miller asked over the radio.

"House Tully. Guess they're made friends with the Starks in this war. If memory serves, one of them is Sansa's mother." Ocelot replied.

Snake disregarded both of them as the horsemen encircled the two soldiers, lances and swords at the ready. Finally, one horseman rode forward, clad in leather and mail with a sword at his hip. He was old, with long grey hair and a bread. Unlike the other horsemen, his sigil was a black fish, over the same field as the other fish bearing horsemen. He rode forward, looking down at the two soldiers. "Hm, we see some sort of flying machine near the road and all we find are two strangely dressed travelers…"

One of the horsemen spoke up. "The woman's likely a whore, look at her clothes for fucks sake!" The other men began to mumble and leer at her. The Blackfish spoke up with a loud "Enough!" only to be cut off from speaking more by the crack of Quiet's rifle. The guard who'd called her a whore shook in his saddle, a hole now punched in the top of his fortunately tall helmet.

The guards immediately responded with anger, stepping forward and raising swords before Snake fired two more rounds into the dirt, speaking loudly and clearly. "Any of you takes one step closer, the next one is in your head." To add emphasis, Quiet worked the bolt of her rifle and aimed at the Blackfish who, to his credit, was unshaken by his first encounter with modern firearms.

"Perhaps if you'd not called the lady a whore, you wouldn't have a hole in your helm." He looked at said guard, who had pissed himself in his saddle and was dead quiet from fear. The man sighed and looked down at Quiet. "My apologies for his stupidity My Lady. I hope you aren't offended by it."

Quiet simply hummed and lowered her rifle as Snake stepped forward. "We're looking for Robb Stark. Either Lord of Winterfell or King of the North, one of the two."

The Blackfish looked down at him. "And you wish to speak to His Grace why exactly?"

"Looking for work. We're mercenaries."

"And how do I know you aren't Lannister spies who intend to assassinate my King?"

Snake shrugged. "If you can give us work and promise a reward, we'll take orders from you too."

The Blackfish grunted. "Before we do that, we'll exchange names. I am Brynden Tully, also known as the Blackfish." He pointed at the Sigil on his chest. "I'm a Knight in the service of His Grace, King Robb Stark. You?"

"Snake. CO of the Diamond Dogs. My friend here is Quiet, one of my soldiers." The woman in question nodded up at Tully before Snake went on. "We just got back from freeing Miss Sansa from… King's Landing I think it's called."

Tully's eyebrows shot up. "That is a rather bold claim. Do you have any evidence of this?"

Snake shook his head. "Cassel said something about sending you a raven, I assume that's a message?"

"You claim to have went from King's Landing to Winterfell in the space of a day?!" Tully was incredulous as Snake simply nodded in reply. Tully took a deep breath to steady himself and looked down at Snake. "You have abilities beyond anything I can conceive, Snake. If you want work, then I will want to understand them. I will offer you 1000 gold dragons if you retake Castle Darry and bring me Gregor Clegane, alive or dead."

"And he is?" Snake asked.

Tully gave a grim smile, "He is the Mountain that Rides. Nearly 8 feet tall, weighs over 30 stone and wields a steel great sword in one hand. His armor is the finest in the Seven Kingdoms and cannot be worn by anyone other than him. If you kill this man, you will be able to speak to the King in the North and I might just believe you about rescuing Lady Sansa. Of course, there are other, easier tasks to accomplish."

Snake held up a hand. "We'll kill this man, where is he?"

Tully hmphed in response, "He recently sacked Castle Darry though he may have moved on from there. You do know this isn't possible, correct."

Snake smiled wryly and pointed a thumb at Quiet. "Quiet can drill a hole in this man's head from a mile away. We can kill him and retake this Castle too."

"Bold claims. Very well, if you do this, we can discuss rewards upon your return. If you return." Tully held up a hand and the horsemen stood down. "To be frank, I wouldn't blame you if you simply left on that machine and never returned. I'm asking the impossible here."

"We've done the impossible before. Why are you asking us to do this? We've just met."

Tully sighed, considering Snake before replying. "A hunch. Something in my gut tells me you two are different. And considering what I've seen today, I think you may just stand a chance against the Mountain's Men. Regardless, I wish you good luck in your hunt." With that Tully turned and with a wave of his hand, lead his horsemen back towards Riverrun.

"We can plan this attack at Mother Base. Head on home, Snake. I'll signal Pequod to pick you up." Miller said over the radio.

Snake nodded and looked over at Quiet. "Up to killing a giant?"Quiet simply smirked in reply, hefting her rifle. Snake returned the smirked and nodded. "I thought so."

 **AN: Alright, alright. I know it's been months since I updated this... but I finally have! So... yeah?**

 ***cowers in fear***

 **In all seriousness, thanks for all the reviews and favs and follows everyone. Finally got me motivated to write more. Thanks for all the praise and constructive criticism, both are VERY much appreciated.**

 **And now, on to review responses! God, this'll take a while... Gonna limit myself to stuff I can reply too, mostly longer reviews or reviews with good points to address or good ideas. Maybe going through 4 pages of reviews to reply to will motivate me to update faster... who knows? Also, word of warning, I am writing at around... 2 AM? So, my ramblings will be even worse this time. You have been warned, people.**

 **Mei-chiri: Thanks for the advice man, I tried to take it into account with this chapter, hope it's an improvement! Also, yes I have read Event Horizon and I do agree that it's awesome. People who are reading my ramblings, go forth and read Event Horizon! Fly, Fly my pretties!**

 **that guy who wrights: Glad we agree on seeing Venom as the more moral of the two Big Bosses. And I'll be toying around with Venom's backstory, you'll see...**

 **XanatosGambit86: Phew, long one here but it does allow me to address a couple things. First off, thanks for the review. Yeah, I did rush the arrival a bit, looking back the wormhole would make a teleport accident easy. But frankly, them arriving is meant to be more of an Act of God. Dunno why it happened or how, it just did and they gotta roll with it. As to the feel of the fanfic, this fanfic is gonna lean more towards MGS, really. Think of it as a MGSV DLC we'll never fucking see that takes place on Planetos. There will be GoT characters and locations but in the end this is MGS first and foremost.**

 **As to the tech, gonna take more time on this and compare my fic to Event Horizon, bit of stretch quality wise as they do this better than me but whatever. There, sharing tech was a good way to make money, they were colonists, there to make money however they can, be it by land, be resources or by sharing tech. Diamond Dogs will work very hard to NOT share tech. Their tech is what makes them so damn dangerous to Planetos, to share it would be disasterous. No inentionally giving of guns and training to Robb, they show up, kick ass, and leave. As The Boss would put it, today's friend is tomorrow's enemy. And there's no reason to give your enemy the tools needed to kill you easier.**

 **Guest 1: Love the Mannis support there mate. Seriously, I do like Stannis but to be frank,the Diamond Dogs don't give two shits who's on the Iron Throne. All they care about is doing what they love, reason they even think about that chair is if someone pays them to throw someone off of it or place someone on it.**

 **That being said, we have not seen the last of the Red Woman...**

 **Guest 2: I tried to get across that Sansa was scared out of her mind while on Mother Base. In the books, she resorted to courtesy as her armor, I figure she'd do the same here. As for interacting with the folks of Mother Base, as you can see in this chapter, she already left. But I have plans for further cultural interaction, don't you worry.**

 **As for CK2, It's GoT mod all the way and my schemes are... progressing, I guess? Got like 10 files, hard to track them all.**

 **SatelliteApocrypha: I figured the locals would just seem him as some weirdo foreigner and move on with their lives. Medieval Peasants may have been rather superstitious but some guy with a horn stuck in his head and wearing weird shit isn't a monster, he's just some weirdo. Worth staring at? Most certainly. But not worth lynching. Immediately at least.**

 **auraofcalm: Yeah, the curbstomp is part of the fun. How does Westeros and Essos react to this insanely powerful force suddenly appearing in the Narrow Sea? This will be looked over in later chapters, and to some extent this chapter. As for the low-mindedness, I feel that Venom Snake isn't one to build a nation for a nations sake like the real Big Boss. He's just a man who fights, nothing more. That being said, the pursuit of self sufficiency might result in expansion... more on that next chapter.**

 **Deadly kawaii ninja: Solid was a hell of a flirt. Big Boss is the God of "Even the Guys Want Him" but that was mostly unintentional. Venom may attract attention of course, but he's not gonna go seeking tail like Robert Baratheon would. As for the creativity thing, don't sell yourself short, mate. I didn't think I could write either, yet here I am. Hell, I still feel like I'm not that great so yeah. If you wanna write, go for it man!**

 **Murderhobo: Gonna do both reviews at once here. First off, I have some ideas with the whole GoT women thing, kinda pondering that one a bit. As for tech, I shall refer you to my earlier rant. Though the metallurgy might come into play, gonna need to do more research into medieval metals and modern metals I guess. Eh, yet more weird shit for the search history. No, NSA, I am not a terrorist, I am a fanfic writer. There is a clear difference!**

 **StillReflections: Ah, was not aware of that. Fortunately, I've done a bit of research into swords and such in my spare time, mostly by watching Skallagrim... anyway, I figure Valyrian Steel is all around tougher than any other steel can be when made without magic. Lighter, more flexible, tougher, etc. Still, it's rare so it won't be a HUGE issue. Eh, we'll see. It's early yet after all.**

 **Guest 3: Yeah, they're actually based in the northern chunk of the Narrow Sea, northeast of Dragonstone by several hundred miles. That's a rough position of course. And the Red Woman is interesting, especially with my Essos plans...**

 **Thats most of the big stuff. Sorry if I didn't reply to your review. While I do like the review's of "update dammit it's great", there's not much that I can do other than extend a big thank you really. To everyone. God willing, I'll be faster updater now.**

 **Or slower, but I'm hoping for faster!**

 **Oh, last thing. Gonna be using this fic to spread my love of old 80's rock. Expect a lot of Toto here and I'll link the music down here at the bottom for ya, if you wanna know what Snake's blaring on the speakers of his choppers.**

 **Stay Away, The Seventh One, Toto:** **watch?v=dNYsVCfmi2E**

 **So, gonna end things here for now. Sorry it's so short but I figured ending the chapter here would be a good move. Next chapter, the Battle of Castle Darry!**


	5. Chapter 5

Compared to the last few castles Snake had seen and infiltrated over the past few days, Castle Darry was puny. The outer wall was far thinner and shorter than the walls of, say, the Red Keep or Winterfell, much less the size of the central keep. This made sense to him though, after all those castles were for kings while this one was for some count or something. That, or his binoculars made everything look small.

"Got a head count?" He asked. Beside him, Quiet peered down the new thermal scope of her rifle. She nodded, humming once.

Snake nodded, still peering through his binoculars. The two of them were places on a small hill near the castle, not ideal for recon but workable. The dark night of a pre industrial world kept them from view. Quiet pulled out her knife and started to carve a number into the grass. Snake looked down at the noise and saw as Quiet carved a number into the ground.

"225… shit…" He looked back through the binoculars as his radio flared to life.

"Lotta people to kill by hand, Boss." Ocelot commented.

Miller retorted for Snake, saying, "Not beyond what he can do. Give him time and a knife and it could be done. And a castle would be perfect for it. Give him a shot gun and it wouldn't be too hard."

"And the quarter ton man waiting inside?" Ocelot replied.

At this point, Snake decided to speak up and end the brief bit of banter before it became full on bickering, again, "Sniper Rifle. One good .50 Cal round to the chest would put him down for good." He kept examining the castle. "How long would a tear gas bombardment last until the wind dispersed it?"

"I dunno, depends on wind conditions. You got an idea, Boss?" Ocelot asked.

Snake swore he could hear Miller smirk as he followed up with, "What do you need Boss? Supply drop?"

Snake smirked. "Yeah… Send me a set of tear gas grenades for my underslung launcher. And a gas mask."

"Right, I'll set up a gas bombardment too."

"Only fire it on my command, Kaz." Snake put away his binoculars and stood up as the radio went dead. He looked down at Quiet. "If anyone walks out of that building, kill them. And keep an eye out for this Mountain." She nodded and looked down the scope of his rifle as Snake pulled out his iDroid, the blue holographic UI lighting up the small hill top as he marked where the drop would be, placing said drop closer to the castle. "If you see the Mountain, aim for the chest. We need him recognizable for Tully to ID." She nodded, still looking down the scope. Snake nodded back and started walking down the hill towards the castle.

"Be careful." The voice was faint, almost imperceptible if not for Snake's sharp hearing. He stopped and looked at Quiet, his expression a mix of surprise and concern.

"Did you just talk? I thought the parasites were still in place."

Quiet lowered her rifle and looked down at Snake. "New treatment." Her voice was hoarse, like she hadn't spoken in years, which Snake figured would very well be true.

"Something to help you speak?" She nodded, idly rubbing her throat. "Talking's hard then?" She shook her head, putting the hand around her throat and squeezing a bit. Snake raised an eyebrow. "Hard to breathe when you speak? Or does it hurt?" Quiet nodded, holding up 2 fingers. "The second, I see," He said, nodding, "Guess I can see why you want to talk, makes things easier on us. We parted ways because of it."

Quiet closed her eyes and looked down, sighing. Snake knelt next to her and tipped her chin up. "None of that. You saved my life that day." She smiled sadly, looking up at him. Then, she reached up and lightly cupped his cheek her hand, leaning in. Snake didn't respond to this, or more accurately, couldn't respond to it. He was frozen, his stomach rolling with a mix of terror and excitement. She stopped only a couple inches from his face, smiled again and kissed his cheek before pulling back, hefting her rifle and smiling a small, pleased smile as she looked down the scope at the castle.

Snake swallowed, stood up and started walking down towards the castle, where the crate of his supply drop could be seen, having landed during their moment. Much to his chagrin, his radio flared to life as Ocelot's teasing, "Maybe I need to give you two a lecture on infield relations. Get you two to shape up." He then started snickering, "Might give the men a bad example, Boss."

Snake sighed and, thankfully unknown to all involved, blushed as he replied, "Shut up Ocelot."

* * *

Snake stood before the main door to the dining hall, or so he assumed. Under the crack of the door, lights could be seen shining out, flickering from the flames that spawned them and the people moving around inside. He could hear the loud yelling and banging of cups and plates as the men feasted. Snake pulled on his new gas mask, covering most of his face, and opened the door a crack, just enough to slide his rifle into. He took a deep breath and, in quick succession, fire 3 tear gas canisters into the room, quickly reloading with the speed and precision of countless fights. After tossing in one tear gas grenade to seal the deal, he opened the door and stepped into the room. Inside, all the once partying raiders were now coughing and heaving, many having fallen to the floor as the gas took effect. Snake himself felt a slight burn from the gas as he stepped into the room.

Then, from his left came a man, who grabbed onto Snake, coughing and heaving. "Help… Please…" Snake simply pulled out his pistol, put it to the man's forehead and, before he could react, pulled the trigger. Said man crumpled as two other guys coughing on the ground looked up at the sound of a silenced pistol round. "Tybalt? That you?" one asked, trying to stand up. Snake remained silent as he put away his pistol, hefting his rifle and putting a round into the head of the speaker before similarly executing his buddy next to him.

And so the work went, Snake stopped regularly and pulling the trigger to execute one raider or another, all the while keep an eye out for the Mountain. Behind him, Snake could hear men crawling for the door and the faint sound of their skulls shattering from Quiet's rifle. He approached one man, sitting against the wall and looking up at Snake, who'd just executed 4 other men in front of him. "Wh-why…" Snake paused as he regarded the man, images of another harsh execution flashing before his eyes, of men in Diamond Dogs begging for mercy.

"We live and die by your order, Boss…" echoed in his memory, the faint sound of the stereo playing in his mind as Snake fired his rifle again and again, taking lives of people that were nothing more than victims of fate. Lives that he'd taken so long ago now…

Back in the present, the raider started to try and get up. Snake quickly turned, raised his rifle and fired a round through the man's skull, who went limp like a puppet with his strings cut, collapsing onto the floor. Snake sighed and kept moving, quietly and efficiently executing each individual. Before long, the gas finally cleared and Snake was left alone in a room covered in blood and corpses. He stood in the middle of the room, the floor almost completely covered in blood. The face of each corpse as contorted in pain and fear, some from the tear gas, others from knowing that they were about to die. But, for all the horror in that room, one corpse was missing, one quarter ton corpse. "He's not here…" Snake said under his breath.

"Not here? What do you mean, not here?" Miller asked over the radio.

Snake put a finger to his earpiece, "He's not here. There's no 8 foot tall body in here, Kaz."

"Damn, must've slipped the net. See if you can find out where he went. Think there are any survivors."

"Right." He lowered his finger just in time for the door to slam open and for a man to run out, pointing at Snake. "That's him! That's the one!" Behind him stepped out a giant of a man, taller than anyone Snake had ever seen, even dwarfing Volgin. "Must be the Mountain." He mouthed as he raised his rifle at the two of them.

The Mountain looked at Snake and looked down at his man. "Is this him?" Said man nodded before crumpling from a rifle round through his skull, falling against the Mountain.

"Take one more step and my next round goes through your skull." Snake said, his rifle trained on the Mountain's head.

The Mountain paused a moment then flung the corpse leaning against him at Snake. Snake dove to avoid the body, sliding on the bloody ground. As he came to a stop, he looked only to see that the Mountain had somehow already gotten in close, his great sword raised high to strike at him. Snake rolled to avoid the strike, pulling out his pistol and feathering the trigger at him. However, unlike what his rounds had done to the other sets of plate armor he'd encountered so far, his rounds simply bounced off, some leaving minor dents but most simply ricocheting away.

"What the hell?" was all he had time to say before the Mountain was upon him again, this time going for a curbstomb kill. Quick as a viper, Snake charged his stun arm met the Mountain's stomp with a 50000 volt palm strike. The Mountain convulsed and Snake used the opening to push against his foot, forcing the knight to stumble back to regain his footing. Snake got to his feet and raised his rifle only for the Mountain to again close the distance, ripping the weapon from Snake's hands with a vicious backhand, sending Snake stumbling back and his rifle clattering across the bloody floor. He recovered only for the Mountain to try and cleave him in two with a diagonal chop to his shoulder, one that Snake only just evaded as he again charged the Stun Arm. As the Mountain lifted the sword to attempt a side swipe, Snake stepped in close and drove his left hand into his chest plate, again hitting the Mountain with 50000 volts.

Yet again, the Mountain convulsed from the electricity running through his body, helped along by his plate armor. Using the resulting opening, Snake pulled his knife from the small of his back and drove it into the Mountain's wrist. A low growl of pain came from the Mountain before he slammed his massive fist into Snake's chest, sending him flying across the room and skidding along the floor. Snake quickly recovered though, rolling into a crouch. By now he was soaked in blood, his bodysuit and face coated in the stuff. He got to his feet, panting as he regarded the Mountain, who was picking up his greatsword with his left hand, the right hand covered in blood from Snake's knife which now laid on the floor behind the Mountain.

From across the hall, the two regarded each other before the Mountain roared and charged, yelling as he ran at Snake, this time attempting a side swipe which Snake ducked under. He again stepped into the gap left by the Mountains wide swing, this time ramming his shoulder into the brutes gut and pushing as hard as he could. Sadly for Snake, his feet found no purchase on the bloody floor and the Mountain grabbed his sneaking suit's back, laughing as he chucked Snake across the room. Snake slid off a table and landed behind it, groaning. As he started to get to his feet, the Mountain, again chuckling darkly, grabbed Snake by the throat, hefting him into the air and slamming into a wall. The Mountain grinned through his visor. "Not enough to win, little man." He raised his sword, ready to decapitate him.

Snake could feel his lung burning, the slam into the wall had knocked the air out of him and he could get no more in thanks to the Mountain's death grip on his throat. Then, he saw it. The Mountain's armor had a gap under his chin. 'Please let there be one round left…' Snake prayed to whatever gods were watching as he pulled his pistol, jammed it under the Mountains chin and fired. The familiar sound of bone and flesh giving away met Snake's ears and the Mountain's grip lessened. Snake fell to the ground, panting as the black edges of his vison receded. In front of him, the Mountain stumbled back a step, somehow still standing despite the gunshot wound to the skull. As Snake caught his breath, he noticed something incredible. The slide of his M1911 had slid back forward. He still had another shot. This realization filled him with a rush and with his own roar he leapt up onto the Mountain's chest, knocking him down onto the table. The Mountain, in one last ditch attempt to kill Snake, shakily raised his greatsword to cut Snake. But, before the blow could land, Snake raised the Mountain's visor, planted his pistol against the Mountains forehead and fired the last round of his pistol, the slide staying in the back position.

The greatsword clattered to the ground as the Mountain went limp, blood leaking from the brute's two gunshot wounds. Snake holstered his now empty pistol and got to his feet, groaning as he leaned against the wall, panting from the exertion. He leaned all the way back against the wall and slid into a sitting position, still panting hard.

"Boss, you there?" Ocelot asked.

Snake put a finger to his earpiece shakily. "Yeah…" He took another breath. "I'm here. Mountain's dead."

Miller spoke up, asking, "You got him?"

Snake looked at the Mountain's still twitching body. "Yeah, I got him. Nearly killed me, but I got him."

"Alright. You need pick up?"

"Yeah, just land in the castle yard. And bring some men, we'll need them to lug this guy."

"I'll lead the team myself Boss, see you soon." Ocelot said before ending the call.

With that, Snake sat against the wall in a pool of blood and began to wait. However, long before Snake expected his men to arrive, the door opened again. Snake got to his feet, sliding a new magazine into his pistol and raising it only to find Quiet looking around the room. Most of the blood, including the blood on Snake, had long since dried, turning a reddish brown color. When Quiet's eyes found the exhausted Snake, she immediately ran over. She went to put an arm under his armpits to hold him up, only to be stopped by Snake's hand grabbing her forearm. "I'm ok. Just a bit banged up." She raised an eyebrow, giving him a wry look before pointing at the bench, clearly wanting him to sit down.

Snake looked down at the bench, sighed and sat down. "Let's get this over with." He started to slowly undo the straps to his sneaking suit, eventually pulling off most of his torso gear, leaving his back exposed. "It'd be the worst on the back and neck, how is it?" Quiet slipped around to the back of him and winced. His back was a motley collection of bruises, a modern art masterpiece of black and blue was all over his back. Snake looked back at Quiet. "Is it bad?" She nodded and moved to his front before gingerly starting to put his snaking suit back together. Snake sighed and moved to stop her only to be himself stopped by a glare from her. After putting his sneaking suit back in order, she sat down next to him and laid her head on his shoulder, sighing sadly. Snake looked down at her for a moment then put an arm around her shoulders.

* * *

Around an hour later, the sound of a helicopter touching down could be heard outside the main door, which flew open not long after the rotors came to a stop. Through the doors walking a squad of Diamond Dogs troops, weapons raised as they scanned the room, only finding Snake and Quiet sitting next to each other. There was a small space between them now, with the two of them having spread out when the chopper landed. As the Diamond Dogs spread out, Ocelot waltzed into the room, spinning his revolver on his finger and whistling when he saw Snake's handwork, stepping over corpse after corpse. "You did good work here Boss. Guess that plan of yours worked out. So, where's the big man at?" Snake looked at Quiet, who nodded, before the two walked over to where the Mountain had fallen and, with a great heave, pulled him over the table so that Ocelot could see him. Ocelot's revolver stopped its spinning as he looked at the hulk of a corpse. "Damn… guess Tully wasn't kidding. Good thing that we brought a net to drag him with. How'd you kill him?"

"Close Quarters." Snake replied.

Ocelot raised an eyebrow as he holstered his revolver. "You fought him up close? Didn't Quiet have a sniper rifle trained on this place?"

"He ambushed me, close quarters wasn't my choice."

Ocelot looked down at the body and kicked it. "Must've been a hell of a fight then. You ok?"

Snake shrugged. "Few bruises, I'll live."

"Few bruises huh? And the blood?" He pointed at Snake's sneaking suit, which was still covered in dried blood.

Snake didn't bother speaking, instead pointing at a long smear of clear floor. Ocelot grimaced. "Ah… well, you're the medic here. If you say you'll be ok, you'll be ok." He looked at the Diamond Dogs who's since finished securing the room. "Ok, listen up men. We need the Mountain loaded up for transport and any Intel secured. Understood?"

"Yes sir!" The men replied and headed off to search the castle. All except one, who walked over and held out a rifle to Snake. "Here Boss, found it in a corner."

Snake nodded and took it, slinging it from his hip. "Thanks, soldier." The Diamond Dog saluted then ran off to help his comrades in the search.

Ocelot raised an eyebrow. "How'd you lose that?"

"He knocked it out of my hands. Had to kill him with my pistol. Hell, most of my pistol rounds just bounced off of his armor."

Ocelot looked down at the armor, whistling. "We should strip him then, see what this armor is made off. Or…" He leaned down and deftly removed the front of his cuirass. "At least a piece." He pointed at a couple small dents. "These you?" Snake nodded and Ocelot slung the armor under his arm. "Alright, I'll take it back and see what we can get from it. You head home, have the medics look you over. The Mountain's corpse will last a day or two."

Snake shook his head. "No, I'll sleep in the chopper till daylight then we'll make for Riverrun. Only a couple hours till sunrise anyway. Best to get the Mountain here," He kicked the body for emphasis. "To Tully as fast as we can."

Ocelot rolled his eyes. "Ever the workaholic. Fine, once the men are done, we'll load up Clegane and we'll make for Riverrun."

"What about you?" Snake asked.

Ocelot simply smirked. "It's about time this planet learns the name Revolver Ocelot."

Snake sighed, rolling his eyes. "Right. You need me to help with anything."

"Yes, I do actually. You're covered in blood. Go get cleaned up, will you." Ocelot looked at Quiet then gave the two of them an evil smile. "Actually, Quiet can help you. Might need an extra pair of hands."

Snake rolled his eyes, walking past Ocelot towards the door with Quiet following, "Aren't you in love with Big Boss?"

Ocelot waved Snake off, "Yeah, but you aren't him."

"Thank God for that…"

Ocelot snorted. "Go clean up Boss. We'll finish up here. Go get clean up so we can talk to the Lords and Ladies."

Snake rolled his eyes one last time and left the hall.

* * *

As the day broke over the Riverlands, the men of Diamond Dogs would be seen pulling the hulk of Gregor Clegane into a large net, attached by a long cable to the bottom of the chopper. Inside the chopper Ocelot sat in one seat, looking over various papers while Snake worked on cleaning his guns. Thankfully, Quiet and Snake had found a large trough of water for the various horses used by the Mountain's raiders, a trough that served as an excellent water source with which to clean Snake. Quiet idly checked over her rifle in her usual spot as Snake relaxed in his own usual spot, eyes closed as he rested.

Ocelot sighed and set down the papers. "Well, got nothing new with intel. Mountain was just ordered to cause trouble for the Riverlands, that's it."

Without opening his eyes, Snake replied, "Makes sense, serve as a diversion." He opened his eyes and looked at Ocelot. "Who did he work for?"

"Tywin Lannister, Lord of Casterly Rock and Lord Paramount of the Westerlands. Guess that means he's like a Duke, I guess. Hell if I know, Kaz was always the one who read up on this sorta shit."

Snake grunted then replied, "So, we pissed off someone else important. Can't be any worse than pissing off a king."

"True." Ocelot shrugged and looked out the window at the men who were, for some odd reason, donning various medieval costumes.

Snake followed Ocelot's gaze and furrowed his brows in confusion, "Ocelot, what are they doing?"

Ocelot leaned back in his seat, "They're Intel team members. Gonna set up the same network we had in the old days. Only, with a new twist. These guys will not only find jobs, but also be our salesmen." He spread his arms, as theatrical as ever, "They'll wander the continent, everywhere they go spreading the legend of Big Boss and his Diamond Dogs. Then, when they find a job, they can go ask them for work and set up the mission for us."

"A method to overcome the lack of modern communications?"

Ocelot nodded, "Exactly. With this, we can set up ways to get more jobs by spreading the word and get missions sent to us faster than the world can handle. The fastest communication methods they have are carrier ravens."

"Ravens? Aren't pigeons the normal messenger bird?" Snake asked.

"Apparently, here they use ravens." Ocelot shrugged. "Hell if I know why. But regardless, we'll be faster than anything these people have ever seen."

Snake nodded as the men all lined up in costume and saluted. Snake and Ocelot offered a salute in return before Snake looked up towards the cockpit, spinning his finger to indicate a take-off. The pilot nodded and the rotors spun up and before long, they were in the air and on the way to Riverrun.

Ocelot turned towards. "So, you've seen my idea. Time for Miller's idea."

"What did Kaz think up?" Snake asked.

"Well, we need resources. First priority is food but we'll later need fuel and ammo to run our operations."

Snake raised an eyebrow. "Didn't we buy some time with the ore request? Plus, the auto mining system is still active, right?"

"We still need fuel. Our hydroponic labs were made to feed the people of Mother Base, not to fuel our vehicles and our people."

"What was Kaz's plan then?" Snake leaned forward listening intently.

"Well, it involves an area of the eastern continent, Essos I think the locals call it. On it, there's an area called the Dothraki Sea. Think the US Great Plains on steroids."

Snake sighed, "Let me guess, Kaz wants to settle it and farm it."

"Actually, he had a better idea. See, the Dothraki Sea is named for the Dothraki, basically the cultural love child of the Mongols mounted archers and the stereotypical American Indian. And by stereotype, I mean the stories old timey settles told each other to scare each other. Scalping, that sorta thing."

"What's your point here, Ocelot?"

Ocelot held up a hand, "I'm getting to it, Boss. Anyway, these Dothraki spend their time raiding and looting all over this grass sea. An issue for the locals but not our tech. The machine gun killed the cavalry charge after all. These guys will be cannon fodder for us. But, wed have another issues. None of us know how to farm."

"You're talking a protection racket, we keep the Dothraki away from villages in exchange for some of their crops."

"Better than that." Ocelot smirked, "We also read about some cities near this grass sea, an area called Slavers Bay."

Snake scowled as this as Ocelot went on. "That's right, Boss. Slavery is still a thing out here. Miller had an idea though. We do some liberating of these people then settle them on the Dothraki Sea and have them work for us in exchange for tech, medicine and protection."

Snake leaned back in his seat, "I take it they'll have a choice in this?"

Ocelot nodded. "Of course. Miller figured that liberating them would make them way more loyal to us and willing to work under us. Plus, in the extreme long term, it'd give us a recruitment pool for soldiers, people familiar with our tech and culture. After all, most of Diamond Dogs is sterile thanks to the Wolbachia."

"Hm… what about our technology spreading? Other people getting access to our weapons. That's our biggest edge out here."

"We'd have an agreement to keep our tech in our towns. And Diamond Dogs will be patrolling the streets as security. We won't be just leaving these towns alone, Boss."

Snake sighed. "Fine, it sounds good to me. Get it started."

"Well, the first move will be to free some slaves. But we'll need more Intel before we move on that. We'll be able to plan our next move once HUMINT is up and running."

Snake nodded as the pilot yelled back into the cabin. "We're here, Boss! Want me to set down or just hover?" Snake got up and crawled to the door, opening it and looking out towards Riverrun, where already the dust cloud of riders could be seen on their way to them. Snake leapt off the chopper, with Ocelot and Quiet following in short order. He went to pull out his knife to cut off the net only to stop and sighed. Ocelot raised an eyebrow then smirked when he understood, stepping forward and pulling his own knife.

"Lost it in the fight? No big loss, just a knife." Ocelot said as he worked on cutting the net. Snake and Quiet turned to look towards the oncoming riders. At first, neither saw any differences between these riders and the last ones but as they grew closer, the difference became clear.

"There are more of them…"

Ocelot finally cut free the Mountain's corpse, then looked at Snake. "What?"

"There are more of them this time," Snake said, looking back at Ocelot.

Ocelot snorted. "Guess they got the news about Miss Stark then. Good, should be getting a shower of praise and gold then." He walked up next to Snake and Quiet, idly pulling out his revolver and twirling it as the riders drew closer and closer. As they drew closer, it became clearer just how large this group was. The band that had greeted Quiet and Snake the day before had been 20 men at most. This was more along the lines of a full company, 200 men or more. At the head sat Tully, his blackfish sigil still on his tabard. Next to him, also on horseback, was a boy, no more than 16 with dark red hair and a bronze crown with points like swords on his head. The riders stopped just short of the helicopter's wash and Ocelot signaled for the chopper to head off for the time being. After the deafening sound of the helicopter's rotor blades had faded, Tully stepped forward.

"You have returned. Is the task I gave you complete?" Tully asked, still on horseback.

Snake turned around, bent down and pulled the corpse of the Mountain forward, so that the riders could better see it. "This is him, right?"

Behind Tully, the teenager with the crown, most likely the new King of the North Snake had to guess, began to ride forward. "Are these the people you spoke of, Uncle?" He said as he arrived next to Tully who nodded in reply.

"Yes, they are. Though the blond haired man is a new addition to the group. Who are you?"

Ocelot smirked, twirling his revolver as always. "I've had many names over the decades. You, however, may call me Revolver Ocelot."

The boy raised an eyebrow. "An ocelot? Is that some form of animal? Or is it some strange word in your language?"

"The ocelot is a noble animal, a large cat if you must know. It possesses a great deal of nobility and grace beyond any other animal in the world."

The boy smirked. "I've always found wolves to be more to my taste. They have a certain… ferocity to them." As if to emphasize his point, a large grey wolf stepped forward from the riders, nearly the size of the horses around them. The group of soldiers eyes the wolf, getting ready for the beast to attack.

Noticing the sudden tension, Tully sighed, "Men and woman of the Diamond Dogs, allow me to introduce His Grace, King Robb Stark, the First of his Name. King of the North and the Trident and Protector of the Realm."

Robb nodded, "Greetings. You are the people who rescued my sister from the Lannisters of King's Landing, yes?"

Ocelot quietly mouthed to himself, "Lannisters… that's where I'd heard that name…"

Snake meanwhile, stepped forward, "I did that, yes. I take it the message they sent arrived?"

"Indeed, just this morning in fact. Allow me to extend my deepest thanks to you for rescuing my sister from that den of lions. You will always be the friends of the Stark family and indeed, all of the North. This I swear on my life and my crown." He put his hand on his chest, most likely some form of sealing the deal as it were.

Tully nodded, "Indeed, and I must say that I did not expect you to succeed in killing Clegane. May I examine the body?"

Snake nodded and both he and Ocelot stepped aside as Tully dismounted, stepped past them to examine the body. "By the gods… it's him… how did you do it? His armor was the finest plate in the Seven Kingdoms and, well, you can see his size. How did you kill him?"

Snake and Ocelot looked at each other for a moment before Ocelot shrugged. Snake then pulled out his pistol and emptied 2 rounds into the exposed chest of Clegane, the bullets eating into his flesh like a hot knife through butter.

The horses fidgeted at the loud sound of gunfire and both Tully and Robb jumped at the noise. Tully looked down at the corpse, comparing the new holes in Clegane's chest to those in his head. "I see… We'll have our men take his body for disposal. Now, what shall be the reward?"

At this, Robb rode forward, "Yes, I'd like to discuss that was well. Both for this and my sister, in fact."

Ocelot raised an eyebrow, holstering his revolver. "What do you mean?"

"What I mean is that the reward you requested from Ser Cassel at Winterfell is simply not enough to replay you for rescuing my sister. Such an act is worth of a title and land. In fact…" He dismounted. "We can start with a title of some form. Kneel."

The Diamond Dogs looked at each other, all three of them wondering what Robb had planned. It was Ocelot who decided to ask. "Why?"

"So I may knight you for your actions. All 3 of you, of course."

Tully looked at Robb, raising an eyebrow. "Even the woman?"

Robb looked over at Tully. "Woman or not, she helped save my sister. She's earned the knighthood."

"Alright…" Tully sighed and watched as Robb looked expectantly at the 3 Diamond Dogs, none of whom had kneeled.

Snake eventually cleared his throat and spoke. "No offense, your highness. But we'd prefer something more concrete. We're mercenaries after all."

Tully furrowed his brows as Robb nodded, replying to Snake's comments. "Ah… Sell swords… Very well then, what will be needed to ensure your loyalty in the long term?"

At this, Ocelot spoke up. "Gold and more work to earn more gold."

Tully hmphed, "Typical sellswords I suppose."

"More or less, we're soldiers. Fighting is what we live for." Snake replied.

"Regardless," Robb said, trying to keep things on track, "How much gold do you want for these acts?"

Ocelot rubbed his chin a moment. "Hm… what would you see as appropriate payment?"

Robb waved on two men on foot who stepped forward and set down a large chest before the Diamond Dogs. One then opened it, revealing it to be full of gold coins. "Will this suffice? Approximately 5000 gold dragons."

Snake and Ocelot again looked at each other a moment before Ocelot replied. "It will do yes. We'll negotiate payment beforehand with all mission from here on out. Speaking of which… what other work do you need us to do?"

Robb sighed, looking at Tully, "Well… at this point, we're making ready for a new offensive against the Lannisters. Perhaps we can attempt to contact you when we have need of you?"

Ocelot simply smirked at them, "Don't you worry about that, your Grace. We'll contact you first, count on that."

"Hm," was all that Robb said in response. Behind him and Tully, another horse rode up at full gallop, riding next to the main body of the host that had met the Diamond Dogs. As the horse came up in front of the group, Snake could see a beautiful red haired woman ride up to Tully and Stark. "Where are they?"

Robb looked at the newcomer, shock apparent on his face. "Mother?!"

"Cat…" Tully rode over to this Cat, sighing. "I thought you were staying in Riverrun."

Cat looked up at Tully. "These men rescued my child from the Lannisters, I will thank them in person."

Tully looked at Cat then at the Diamond Dogs before Robb spoke up, "She's already here, Great-Uncle, we may as well let her speak with them."

Cat had already turned to regard the Diamond Dogs. Her brow furrowed as she examined them, lingering in particular on Quiet's attire, or lack there off, "Interesting… You are not exactly what I expected from Sansa's letters."

Ocelot, seeing an opportunity to needle Snake, smirked as he replied, "She probably went on and on about Snake, right?"

Cat nodded once and Ocelot went on, "Well, that's him." He pointed at Snake, who sighed. She stepped closer and looked over Snake.

"Hm…"

"What?" Snake asked.

"You are not what I expected from the letter sent by my daughter."

Snake sighed. "Let me guess, you expected a golden knight or something?"

"Considering how much praise my daughter gave you, I did yes. You made quite the impact on her."

Ocelot smirked as he piped up, "Well, he did save her from a tower and she's a princess so…"

"Yes, that is not lost on me." Cat looked at Snake. "Regardless, you have my utmost thanks for saving my daughter. Understand that my other daughter was not in Lannister hands?"

"If you're referring to Arya, then yes. She vanished some time ago apparently." Snake replied

Robb perked up. "I think I have a job for you then."

Snake sighed. "Find Arya?"

Cat nodded. "If you do that, I'll give you anything you desire. A title, lands, even a wife if need be."

"Just money will do, thanks." Snake held up his left hand to placate her.

Robb sighed at this, "If you keep doing tasks of this magnitude, you may have no choice in the matter. Gold only covers so much in terms of reward."

Ocelot snorted. "You've clearly not spent much time with mercs, Your Grace."

Cat looked Snake straight in the eyes, her hands resting on his shoulders, an act that had Quiet scowling and glaring at her. "Find my daughter, I beg you Snake."

He gently grabbed her forearms, a slight shudder running through her as his prosthetic hand touched her skin, "We'll find her, I promise." She nodded in response and turned, walking back to her horse. After mounting it, she looked at the Diamond Dogs one last time then turned and started to make the trip back to Riverrun.

Tully sighed, "Sometimes, Cat…"

Ocelot looked at the older man. "Relative?"

"My niece, in fact."

"And my mother," Robb added before mounting his steed, "Still, I will reward you greatly for finding my other sister, as my mother said. Though… I doubt you'd be interested in marrying them."

Ocelot shook his head, "Gold is fine, your Grace. Oh, and we'll need a physical description of your sister."

Robb nodded, "My sister is 10 years old, short and skinny, with a long face, grey eyes and dark brown hair."

Ocelot sighed, "Well, that won't be too hard to find…" His voice dripped with sarcasm at the difficulty of the task.

Robb snapped his fingers. "Ah, one thing that may help. She's rather spirited and carries a smallsword named Needle, long and thin, not much for cutting."

"My agents will keep an eye out for her but no promises, your Grace. She seems to be a needle in a haystack."

"Regardless, good luck. And thank you for everything you've done thus far for my family."

With that, Robb turned and began to ride off, with most of the host following behind him. Tully remained with a few other riders who set to work prepping a transport for Clegane's body, eventually fashioning a sled which would be tied to their steeds then, with one final nod from Tully, the last of the riders departed.

Ocelot sighed and turned to face his comrades, "Well, that was eventful."

"Understatement there, Ocelot." Snake said as he pulled out his iDroid and called for pick up.

"Your thoughts Boss?"

The iDroid's interface vanished as Snake put away his device before replying, "I think we'll need to expand our client base. We're not tools of one king of country."

Ocelot shrugged, "Perhaps, but it is a good way to build our reputation, doing the impossible in an impossibly short time. We build a rep here, we can sell it all over the world. Just like home, only without the Patriots to stop us."

That comment brought a smile to Snake's face, "Amen to that…" Beside the two of them, Quiet simply sighed, still unhappy with how Cat had acted with Snake.

Before long, the helicopter arrived and set down and as Snake opened the door, Ocelot had to make one last comment before leaving. "You'll see Boss, we're gonna have it good here. Nothing to stop us and all the warfare in the world. We've found our heaven, Snake." With that, the 3 of them entered the cabin and began to long flight back to Mother Base.

 **AN: Good Lord, I just wrote around 6.5 words in one goddamn day. I am fucking exhausted... and loopy, as I finished at 2:18 AM, again...**

 **I really gotta get better writing habits...**

 **Anyway, your eyes do not deceive you, dear readers. I just updates within the span of... what, a week? Anyway, don't get too used to this guys, I basically had to take a whole day to crank this sucker out so it's not something I can do willy-nilly.**

 **So, first real fight! I hope you enjoyed the Battle of Castle Darry. Was tempted to have the death of the Mountain be anti-climactic but I changed my mind, a hard slugging match was more fun. I hoped you all enjoyed the little dose of horror during the gas scene, wanted to toy around with it a bit. I also hope you don't mind yet more ship teasing and the fact that Quiet can talk! Yes, I will explain that, most likely next chapter. Eh... what else other than reviews... oh right. I hope I didn't fuck up Catelyn or Robb, Robb I didn't have too much trouble with but Cat... kinda hard to balance the "Ohmigod, they saved my kid" with her cultural sensibilities about knights and women and that kinda shit. Eh, we'll see I guess.**

 **Ok, enough with unrequested rambling, on to requested rambling with the review answers! Same policies as last time, long reviews get answered more often than not.**

 **Mei-chiri: Thanks for the Second review! And looking back, I do feel like chapter 4 was better than the other 3. As for Quiet, I get the feeling that she enjoys messing with Snake in certain ways, mostly involving her feelings for her. This is compounded by the fact that last time, she was never clear with all of this. Now, she can be clear about it. And quite forward as well so, huzzah! And hopefully the colony idea will handle the supply issues. I figure that metal and such is just made on site, due to all the raw materials they work with. As for food, there is no danger of starving. Mother Base actually has a hydroponics lab. Dunno EXACTLY where it is but I think it's at the Support platform, the first one built. My headcanon is that Kaz has that sorta stuff all over Mother Base in an attempt to be self sufficient, due to his paranoia and all. Which is good, considering where they are now!**

 **As for the winter... they have an edge due to tech. Heating, etc. All they'd need to do is hunker down, use the hydroponics to eat and solar panels for power and they'd be fine.**

 **Blackout10160: Trust me, the Lannisters are PISSED right now. Some group sneaks into the Red Keep and makes off with their big hostage THEN kills their mad dog? Tywin is apoleptic, once he finds out at least.**

 **Brad W: Sorry to disappoint ya, mate. Hope you enjoy the alternative!**

 **Caelleh: Yeah, the meshing of the two worlds is an issue. The way I'm handling this is like Westeros and Essos is basically an amazing DLC for Phantom Pain. The perspective, the themes, the feel is all MGS. The setting is just different is all. Not perfect, but its how I handle it and according to your review I'm doing it well so... guess I just keep going then!**

 **Deadly kawaii ninja: Yeah, I tried to show what you mean about Venom being altruistic during the Red Keep infiltration. He wanted to save Sansa because she was obviously scared out of her fucking mind and needed help, not because he wanted a reward, that was just the bonus. As for the DLC, I'm not a big online guy with MGSV so I'm not that interested, really. And yeah, VenomxQuiet forever.**

 **Cerberusx: It's a fully built up Mother Base, so there are 4 platforms, yeah. Sorry that wasn't clear, lot to keep track off with this fic.**

 **Ok... what else... Oh, one big thing. Gonna be a 2 week time skip between this chapter and the next. Kinda has to be done, as shit in Westeros happens really slowly in comparison to what the Diamond Dogs are used to so time skips are a necessary evil here. Won't be too often, hopefully. I have ideas as to how to fill the time. The Diamond Dogs won't be in Westeros full time, oh no. They have Essos to work with after all, a land of slaves, savages and magic. Gonna have a lot of fun with that... Stay tuned!**


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